Business

Lagos building collapse: SON vows to punish low standard, takes samples

By Ezurike Ugochukwu

The Director General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mallam Farouk Salim, has insisted on strong consequences for all building standards violations, as the nation mourns over the 21 storey building collapse in Gerrard Ikoyi area of Lagos State.

Stressing that rather than employing force and compulsion, it’s necessary to promote voluntary compliance in Nigeria as in other parts of the world.

In a statement made available to Nation Update by the standards body in Lagos, it stated that samples of iron rods, concrete mix and other building materials have been taken for laboratory analysis and tests.

Resue operations ongoing at the collapsed building Ikoyi, Lagos

Salim assured that SON has begun investigation into the incident, described it as avoidable and one collapse too many.

The SON boss concluded that the Organizaion is currently developing new procedures in line with the Act establishing it and in collaboration with other relevant bodies to verify that all materials used in major construction projects across the country meet the required standards.

The vision of Lagos State Government to set a panel of inquiry to unravel the root cause of the collapse gets the backing of SON as it has offered technical support in view of its mandate and abundance of competence in such investigation.

Salim stated that SON requires the continuous support and collaboration of all Nigerians, other agencies and professional organisations to deliver on its mandate to the nation.

The SON boss pointed out that Section 5 (1) b of the SON Act No. 14 of 2015 charges the organisation to, “Undertake investigation as necessary into the quality of facilities, systems, services, materials and products, whether imported or manufactured in Nigeria”.

He also pointed at Section 5 (2) of the Act which states that “For purposes of uniformity of Standards in Nigeria, all Regulatory Agencies or Organisations dealing with matters pertaining to or related to Standards shall do so in collaboration with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria”.

He quoted Part IX (48) of the Miscellaneous Provisions in the SON Act thus “In every government procurement, where compliance with standards is a requirement, no payment for execution for such contract shall be made unless compliance to the relevant standards have been verified by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria”.

The Director General offered his condolence to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the people of Lagos State on the unfortunate high-rise building collapse at Ikoyi and the attend loss of lives.

The SON DG, also commiserated with the families of the dead and injured and called on all Nigerians, particularly authorities responsible for approvals and regulations to make adherence to approved Standards the watchword in the discharge of their duties.