The Lagos State Government has disclosed that only 15 per cent of property owners in the state have building approvals, while only 75 per cent have complied with the physical planning laws.
This comes as the state government is set to review the urban developmental plans to meet infrastructure demand while creating opportunities for stakeholders to take advantage of investments at the maiden Physical Planning Summit.
The State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Oluyinka Olumide, and his Information and Strategy counterpart, Gbenga Omotoso, stated this during a media briefing on Wednesday, at Alausa, Ikeja, to herald the Physical Planning Summit scheduled to take place on 15 and 16 October at Victoria Island, Lagos, where stakeholders are to brainstorm on ways to chart a better course for the state development.
The summit with the theme, ‘Thinking Lagos: A new vision for a regional and integrated megacity’, will have stakeholders from both the private and public sectors to address challenges in physical planning within the State.
Olumide said, “Statistics show that only 15 per cent of property owners have building approvals, while 75 per cent property owners have complied with the state physical planning laws.
“We are committed to being able to benchmark accordingly and arrive at the master plan. Building approval in Lagos is below 25 per cent. Across the country, we have between 18 to 28 per cent and the highest is 32 per cent.
“We have a lot of challenges so we must ensure that we increase the percentage. This is one planet earth we have and everyone has a name, the same thing applies to structures, every building must get approval”.
He highlighted some of the buildings that are due for demolition in the state which include, building without approval, structures under high tension, power lines, buildings on drainages, buildings on gas lines among others.
The Commissioner added, “We have positioned ourselves to ensure that we tackle the challenges. It is going to be a talk shop, we have to map out actions plan of what we intend to achieve and periodically back it up with what we want.
“It is high time to rethink Lagos. Lagos, as we know is a megacity, we must position our state to continue to enjoy that status.
“You would agree with me the land as we are given is fixed and we have 3,577 kmsq, 75 per cent is water and the population strength increases and we all believe we must be in Lagos, this poses a lot of stress on our land and infrastructures.
“We have to put plans in place to meet up with the available land. The summit plans to go from higher order to lower order. What we now run is a bottom-up approach. The percentage of building approval is low, we need to meet, to reach out to the people”.
Citing an example, the Commissioner stated that the Badagry masterplan, “there is need to go to the locals in the ancient town, especially the fishermen, what are the challenges? How do we help them, the facilities to be provided to take care of the people, we look at the trends of development of the area
“For instance, we have to look at the associated demand for education, are the people inclined to private or public schools and if those plans are produced, it is a property of both the government and the people.
“So in terms of execution, it is important to extend up to private people to buy into the plan. We have a plan within the range of 10 to 20 years. Stakeholders from international partners like World Bank, Africa Development Bank (AfDB)”.
Earlier, Omotoso restated the commitment of the state government to building Lagos smart city while fostering discussions on climate change and urban development.
