The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) is about to start demolishing substandard buildings in Lagos State’s FESTAC Town.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mrs Francisca Michael-James, FHA’s Head of Town Planning, South-West Zone, made the announcement on Friday while leading an FHA delegation to FESTAC Town.
A Lagos State task force accompanied the FHA delegation.
Michael-James told NAN that efforts to stop encroachments and illegal construction in FESTAC had failed because the encroachers ignored’stop work’ orders and eviction notices.
She stated that the last demolition notice served on illegal occupants in the town had expired 21 days ago, thus the proposed mass demolition.
According to Michael-James, the substandard buildings under construction on the encroached portions were on swampy land and were at risk of collapsing due to the soil type and its behavior.
She stated that the entire FESTAC Town was built on the same delicate soil, but she assured that engineering solutions were used to achieve quality and long-lasting construction in estates built by the Federal Government.
“We will go into action as soon as our management gives us permission and the task force is ready for us.”
“We are going to demolish structures, particularly those near our major roads; the buildings lack structural integrity because the owners never came to us for approval.”
“Our professionals did not supervise the constructions, and we have no idea about the structural integrity of the structures that they are building on site in this era of building collapse.”
She stated that FHA had the title document for the entire 2,24.6 acre FESTAC master plan.
She claimed that encroachers were erecting structures on Federal Government land.
According to her, an edifice is being built on a major road in FESTAC, and after the property was served with a’stop work’ order and demolition notice, the owner continued construction and began painting.
She claimed that, in addition to substandard structures on illegally acquired land in FESTAC Town, houses were being built on road setbacks, drains, and other infrastructure.
She stated that the demolition would begin at 7th and 9th Avenues and would later be extended up to 11th Avenue.
Mr Kunle Olaniran, FHA’s South-West Zonal Head of Engineering, explained the principles of Raft Foundation, comparing it to pilling to a specific height using iron rods to achieve thickness for specific loads before construction.
Because of the varying calibrations required on plots with varying soil behaviors, Olaniran stated that the underground work required professionalism.
Mr Alaba Omoniyi, FHA’s South-West Zonal Head of Legal Department, ruled out regularizing the encroached-on areas due to the integrity of the buildings built on incorrect foundations and land gradients.
He stated that some of the houses were below the road’s level and could eventually collapse due to soil conditions.
Mr Lawal Umar, the FHA’s Survey Unit Head, described how his team was repeatedly attacked on construction sites by encroachers.
He stated that the team’s ability to work without security operatives was hampered.
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