Building collapse: Provide information on unethical standards — Abiodun tells Ogun residents
Bankole Taiwo, Abeokuta
Ogun State government, in its determination to nip the issues of building collapse in the bud, has urged members of the public to volunteer information on unethical building standards capable of leading to loss of lives and destruction of property.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Kunle Somorin, said that Governor Dapo Abiodun, speaking through the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, TPL Tunji Odunlami, noted that the state government would only be able to put an end to untimely deaths as a result of building collapse, if such unethical practices by building owners and property developers are brought to the notice of government.
Odunlami said this while speaking on the recent building collapse that occurred at Iperu, in Ikenne local government area of the State.
A committee set up by the Governor, the statement added, would apply the condition of anonymity for anyone who wants to come forward with vital information.
He added that the sitting of the committee would commence at the Conference Room of the Ministry and later shift its sitting to the site of the collapsed building at Iperu, on Wednesday, 23rd March, 2020.
“We want to appeal to the residents of Ogun State, our eyes cannot see everywhere but your eyes can see everywhere and your ears can hear things in your neighbourhood. Anytime you see strange things, maybe it happens and some people are trying to cover it up, just raise the alarm, let us know so we can act accordingly.
“We call on members of the public from that neighbourhood who may have information on the incident that can assist this committee should. Feel free to approach us, the committee is given one week from today to submit its report and its sittings will be held both in this conference room starting from today and Tuesday, 22nd March, 2022 and at the site of the collapse at Iperu, on Wednesday, 23rd March, 2020,” the Commissioner was quoted to have said in the statement.
While reiterating that the state government was poised to put an end to illegal building practices that could be detrimental to the lives of the people, the statement said that the response to the collapse wasn’t because the collapsed building happened in the town of the governor, but because such swift response was the responsibility of the government.
“Happening in the governor’s town, I think it doesn’t matter. Iperu is a town in Ogun State, it is just by chance it happened in the town, wherever that has happened in the past, we’ve responded swiftly. I hope you can recollect when a school building collapsed in Imeko-Afon, that was not the governor’s town, but the governor immediately dispatched a team to the scene. So, anytime we hear something like that, we go there. Even in recent past when a building got burnt in Totoro, Abeokuta, it wasn’t in the governor’s town, we immediately did the needful, our action on the collapsed building is a show of responsibility,” the statement added.
