By Olasunkanmi Akoni
Lagos State Government has said that henceforth, the process for the issuance of a planning permit will require only 10 days to enhance ease of doing business in the built sector.This followed series of innovations by the state government to make the process attractive, friendly and seamless.
Meanwhile, State Government has urged the Executives of the Real Estate Development Association of Nigeria, REDAN, to enlighten their members on the requirements, procedures and laws relating to reclamation, regularisation of title on land and abutting waterfront clearance.
General Manager, Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority, LASPPPA, Kehinde Osinaike, who disclosed this at a one-day seminar at the weekend, said “it is now compulsory to complete the Planning Permit processing within 10 working days for some category of development proposals.”
The seminar, themed, “Improving the Planning Permit Process for Ease of Doing Business in Lagos State,” was organised in conjunction with the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria, REDAN.
According to Osinaike, the innovations were introduced because Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration believes in voluntary compliance approach to planning permit.
He said: “It is in fulfillment of government policy that LASPPPA recently introduced series of innovations that made Planning Permit processes attractive, friendly and seamless to the public. One of the innovations is the 10-Day Deal, a policy which makes it compulsory to complete the process of Planning Permit within 10 working days for some category of development proposals.
“Hitherto, it was 28 days. This excludes encumbrances for non-compliance with tax policy.
“We also created additional District Offices to reduce work load, ensure higher efficiency and bring Approving Offices closer to the people. The number of District Offices moved from 30 to 50 within two years, including the e-pp Office at the headquarters.
“We are committed to having offices in all the 57 local government areas.
“We also offer free services for planning information. This is to ensure that prospective land buyers first obtain information on status of land before agreeing to the transaction; we grant provisional planning permits on properties with unregistered title with a validity of nine months.
“This is to allow prospective house owners process title documents and embark on construction simultaneously.
“We grant pilling permit to high-rise buildings once payments are made, to ensure projects are timely delivered, among others.”
Osinaike, added that the agency will continue to collaborate with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), professional bodies in the built industry, civil society organisations, community leaders, relevant MDAS on reporting of illegal and non-conforming developments so Lagos can be a safe space for everyone.
Osinaike stated that the morphology of towns and cities is determined by their development plans which are government policies and proposals for the use of land to achieve orderliness and efficient functioning of cities, towns and villages.
According to him, “ A well-articulated plan will not yield the desired results in transforming the cities for good if its inert and purpose are not fully adhered to, hence the use of legislation to enforce compliance with the Lagos State Physical Planning and Development Law 2010, the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Regulations, 2019 and Lagos State Building Control Regulations 2019.”
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure Development Mr. Kehinde Gbajumo, urged the Executives of REDAN to enlighten their members on the requirements, procedures and laws relating to reclamation, regularisation of title on land and abutting waterfront clearance.
Gbajumo added it is a prerequisite to processing planning permit/on land abutting water.
According to him, Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure Development must be involved in the process of granting waterfront clearance which is a requirement for planning permit on waterfront development and layout approval by the Ministry of Physical Planning Urban Development.
“Some of the activities of this ministry include: Regularization of title to waterfront land, issuance of waterfront clearance for planning permit on building development along Waterfront land.
“Others are, granting of reclamation permits for creation of Islands, foreshore estate and extension of land by reclamation, as well as the construction of private jetties along the state waterfront,” he stated.
Head of Research and Development in the Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory, Mrs. Titilayo Lawal, stressed the importance of testing building materials to ensure safer buildings.
According to her, ensuring safe building materials could be related to safe and healthy eating.She said: “Our job at the laboratory is to test the viability of construction materials so we can have safer structures.
“Most people don’t know that water for construction requires same quality as drinking water. Saline water is bad for construction because the salt will cause the iron to corrode.
“Sand, steel, concrete cubes, among others, all need to be tested to ensure they are right for the structure to be erected.”
Director-General of the Lagos Safety Commission, Lanre Mojola, harped on the need for occupational safety at construction sites, urging site managers to employ a safety official who will enforce compliance to safety guidelines, and report infractions to the appropriate authority.
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