The Lagos State Government has reiterated its call on Developers and Investors in the built environment to desist from developing Estates without obtaining layout approvals from the State Government.
The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako, made the call in a statement issued on Thursday, stressing that all estates in the State must obtain Layout Approvals through the Ministry, which is empowered by the Law to process and grant layout approvals and regulate the development of public and private estates in Lagos State.
While noting that the measure was to help achieve a sustainable built environment in Lagos, Salako decried a situation in which estates were springing up in parts of the State without approval, despite several warnings in the last 12 months.
He recalled that the State Government had given a directive for all estates to regularise their layout approvals in line with relevant provisions of the Lagos State Government Notice No. 6 of 1983 on Guidelines for Approval of Layouts.
The Commissioner urged the promoters of estates without layout approval to immediately commence processing of their approvals by submitting necessary documents to the Ministry, warning that the government would soon begin a monitoring and enforcement exercise on estates in Lagos and would not hesitate to seal up the erring ones.
Salako also enjoined members of the public to always request for layout approvals granted by the Ministry before entering into any transaction with developers, stressing that developments within estates without evidence of layout approval would be deemed illegal, while necessary sanctions will also be applied in accordance with the law.
