Lagos — Ten more warehouses which were converted to storey buildings within the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) are defective the Lagos State Government indicated yesterday. The observation was made by the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr Fancisco Abosede, at a news conference following the collapse of a building at the railway compound, during which at least six people died and 25 injured on Sunday.

Abosede appealed to the NRC and other Federal Government agencies in the state to open up their property for inspection by the the State Government.

He confirmed that the collapsed property belonged to the NRC and was a bungalow warehouse.

"However, the people to whom the house was leased, converted it into a three-storey building which made the load too heavy for the foundation," he said. Abosede, a town planner, also said that a machinery had been put in place to monitor buildings in the state.

"Any building found to be structurally defective, the Ministry issues a 14-day notice for the owner to demolish or the Ministry seizes and demolishes it and recovers the cost of demolition from the owner before releasing the property," he said .

He confirmed that many Lagos landlords and residents had begun to notify the ministry of structurally defective buildings and asking the government to come and demolish.

Also speaking, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Opeyemi Bamidele, said that the state government would continue to implement the State's physical planning laws, no matter whose property is involved.

According to him, enforcement of the laws was the only way to avoid wanton destruction of lives and property caused by building collapse."The State Government remains resolute in its intention to acquire

and demolish any structurally defective building if the ownerrefuses to notify the government as stipulated by the law," Bamidelesaid.