Don urges LASG to reward compliance with construction laws

A don, Prof. Abimbola Windapo, on Monday called for proactive measures, including a reward system by government to residents who built right to tame building collapse in Lagos State.

Windapo, of the Department of Construction Economics and Management, University of Cape Town, South Africa, said this at a virtual meeting organised by the Eko EnvirotalkTV.

The theme of the programme was, “Contemporary Issues in Building Collapse and its Implications for Sustainable Development in Lagos, Nigeria.”

She urged professionals to practice within the limits of their training and stop hijacking other experts’ roles while urging government to introduce a reward system.

“They (government) should be giving people awards. We only hear about the negative side; what about the people doing the right things, what has been done to encourage them?

“What about those developers and the clients who are doing the right thing, building the right structures? she asked.

She added that in addition to awards, clients and developers who complied with building laws should be given tax reliefs and other incentives to nip build collapse in the bud.

“In the future, it is likely that the construction industry stakeholders will be reluctant to do away with unsustainable practices because they are already part of them.

“Therefore, more cases of building collapse will be witnessed, if government does not take proactive action by ensuring and enforcing compliance with sustainable construction principles.

“Building collapse has serious implications for for the socio-economic development of Lagos State and Nigeria and must be tackled decisively in order to secure a more sustainable future.

“Prevention is often said to be better than cure,” she said.

She said environmental, human and technical factors were responsible for building collapse and urged government and other built environment stakeholders to tackle the root causes.

Mr Bisi Adedire, a town planner and other panelists called for ethical and value re-orientatation among citizens and construction experts to building right.

They called for compliance and enforcement of standards and codes for materials.

They also called for enforcement of health and safety plans at construction sites, while speaking against undue political interference in implementation of laws.

Earlier, Mr Lasisi Adedoyin, the host recalled how accient buildings were stronger than the contemporary ones collapsing, adding that, the webinar was organised to profer solutions.