…Declares zero tolerance for substandard structures
Lagos State government has advised contractors in the state to comply strictly with the guidelines set out for construction of houses or be blacklisted.
Speaking during the inspection of state owned Housing schemes at Igando and Egan, the Lagos State Permanent Secretary, in the Ministry of Housing, Mr. Wasiu Akewusola, warned contractors wanting to deviate from the housing construction guidelines given by the State Government to think twice as government will not hesitate to penalise erring contractors.
Akewusola in an interview with the press noted that such deviations and variations in quality and measurements will not only compromise the structural reliability of the building on the long run but would affect its durability.
The Permanent Secretary also reiterated the government mission “to provide and hand over high quality and safe shelters that are habitable to end users.” He noted that the state government would not tolerate any contractor who cut corners for profit at the detriment of the people who will live in the houses.
Akewusola also urged all government contractors in the built environment to abide by the set standards as failure to do so could attract total demolition of such structure and withholding of payments until necessary adjustment or correction is made to meet the laid down standard and/ or blacklisting of erring organisations.
He reminded the contractors that Lagos State is known for high quality building construction and will not in any way give the citizenry anything short of that.
He also charged contractors to engage the services of core professionals in order to deliver standard products. “I enjoin you to employ only experts in the construction sector in order to deliver solid and durable structures at the end of the day”, Akewusola said.
He added that the state will scale up its monitoring activities to ensure that all contractors comply with set standards and deliver projects within the agreed time.
The Permanent Secretary disclosed that the state housing scheme at Igando would be handed over to allotees soon and that the State will move on to complete other ongoing housing projects in line with the promise made by Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to the people of the state.
He said,” We will continue to press forward until the challenge of deficit in availability of homes in Lagos State is fully addressed as pledged by the Governor”.
Source: sunnewsonline
