The Lagos State Government said that, in an effort to raise public awareness and address concerns of non-compliance, it will begin publicizing planning permission infringement notifications imposed on buildings.
Mr. Kehinde Osinaike, General Manager of the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority (LASPPPA), provided the information during a Wednesday interview in Lagos, according to News Nigeria.
Osinaike claimed that despite the success of the agency’s extensive public awareness campaigns on voluntary compliance, the government will nevertheless go above and above to publish notices of planning permit infractions for efficiency.
Keep in mind that the government’s action comes in response to those who routinely violate planning permission requirements by starting construction despite being told to “stop work” by the government.
The state government’s strategy is an effort to reduce the alarming increase in deadly building collapses occurring throughout the state.
What Mr. Kehinde Osinaike is saying
Property owners frequently assert that they were unaware that notices of planning permit contraventions had been served when it came time to accept responsibility for their illegal activities or infractions, according to Osinaike. He stated:
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“This government is committed to transparency and accountability; we are not hiding anything from the public.”
“The whole essence of publishing all buildings that were served one form of notice or the other is to ensure that we are transparent in all we are doing and we are straightforward.”
“We want the public to be aware that that particular building is in contravention of the town planning regulations.
“What we expect at that point after the publication is for the owner to quickly try to rectify as much as possible whatever infractions that have been committed hitherto; we have witnessed situations where people deny that they have not been served notices before our enforcement exercise.”
According to Osinaike, the notices would take the form of an invitation to the agency for developers or property owners to contest or agree with the letters to resolve disputes amicably and avoid punishment.
In order to accommodate stakeholders who for a variety of reasons did not have timely access to the material, Osinaike indicated that the extension may extend for weeks or months, depending on the type of notification.
He urged the populace to voluntarily respect the law when applying for planning permissions because effective physical planning was still a crucial component of healthy communities.
