Ogun declares war on building collapse as regulators, artisans unite in Ilaro

AS part of efforts at averting building collapse and combating use of substandard building materials, the Ogun State Building Production Management Authority (OGBPMA) and the Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG) brought bricklayers, carpenters, welders, architects, engineers, builders and community leaders and other stakeholders together at a sensitisation program, in Ilaro.

The Joint Building Safety Awareness Programme, themed: ‘Building safe, compliant and quality structures’ held at the Oronna Hall, pushed for strict adherence to approved plans, certified professionals and state building regulations.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr Abiola Ayodele, urged participants and the public to engage the services of qualified professionals of the built environment who must comply with the state’s building regulations, warning that any detected violation would attract stiff penalty as the state frowns at any action that could lead to collapses that claim lives and destroy property.

The Olu of Ilaro and Paramount Ruler of Yewaland, Oba (Dr) Kehinde Olugbenle, represented by the Aguro of Ilaro and secretary, Olu-Ilaro-In-Council, Chief Ayo Dawotola, signalling the traditional institution’s concern for the safety of lives and property in the community enjoined all present to in turn inform other members of their various associations and groups to adhere strictly to the standards as agreed at the forum.

Acting General Manager, OGBPMA, Mr Titilayo Oladogbon, took participants through the authority’s expectations and the processes involved in building compliance disclosing that the state government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BCPG, a non-governmental organisation, to support the supervision of construction across the state.

The state chairman of BCPG, Mr Ogunsola Adedayo, explained the Guild’s role in curbing collapses and promoting quality construction. He said its members were spread across the zones and work alongside OGBPMA staff and the district and zonal town planning officers at curbing recurring collapses caused by non-conformity with standards.

Other professionals in the authority, who took time to outline what is at stake when a building collapses, underscored a central point of the programme, the workers at the foundation of every construction site as critical to safety as the professionals who design the structures while listing loss of lives and injuries, destruction of property and investments, financial bankruptcy and emotional depression and trauma among others as what government, families and the wider community would bear as burden.