Sustainable Physical Environment: Ministry Engages Stakeholders

The Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development has reiterated its committment to upholding the competencies of the different professions in the built industry towards achieving a more sustainable development of the physical environment in Ogun State.

Commissioner in the Ministry, TPl Olatunji Odunlami, stated this while playing host to the delegation from the Ogun State Chapter of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) comprising of the Ogun State Technical Committee and the Engineering Regulation Monitoring (ERM) Committee, in his office in Abeokuta.

Odunlami noted that the erstwhile Ogun State Urban and Regional Planning Board was unbundled into three specialist policy implementation agencies to drive improved efficiency in creating an environment that engenders wealth creation for the citizens of Ogun State. He emphasised that, statutory oversight of the activities of all professionals involved in actual building design construction and management are domiciled in the Ogun State Building Production Management Authority (OGBPMA).

“All we are doing is to ensure that buildings and other structures in Ogun State are better-built, more resilient, fit for purpose, and that buildings do not collapse. “It is common to hear people say that buildings do not collapse on paper, but when a design is faulty especially its structural details, the building has started collapsing right from the paper on which it is designed, which is why collaboration between OGBPMA and the stakeholders under its auspices, are critical to the translation of planning designs into reality,” the Commissioner noted.

Speaking earlier, the Chairman of Ogun State Technical Committee of COREN, Engr. Mutiu Odesanya noted that the Engineering Regulation Monitoring (ERM) Committee was inaugurated by Governor Dapo Abiodun in December 2022, with representative of the State Government as a member, to monitor the activities of all engineering personnel across the State, calling for support from the Ministry as a critical stakeholder in tackling the issue of quackery in the engineering profession.

“Any engineering personnel not registered with COREN and not-up-to-date with their yearly practicing license, is a quack and cannot be legally practice in Nigeria,” Engr Odesanya stated.
In a similar vein, the Commissioner has called on the regulatory bodies of the various professions in the built industry, to cooperate with the Ministry in sanitizing the industry and enforcing collaboration rather than competition among the professionals.

Odunlami stated this while playing host to the Registrar of the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON), emphasizing the importance of regular interactions with the regulatory bodies towards developing long-lasting frameworks for engagement in line with the Ogun State Urban and Regional Planning and Development (OGURPD) Law 2022.

In his remarks, the Registrar of CORBON, Bldr. Adetunji Adeniran, called on the Ministry to ensure that building production and health and safety documents remained relevant and active as an on-site requirement at construction sites in the State, urging the Ministry to include the Project Quality Management Plan (PQMP) among documents required for grant of planning permit and building authorisation.

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