Lagos decommissions over 95 illegal installed telecom masts
In order to halt the incessant building collapse and other structures in Lagos State, the State Infrastructure Maintenance and Regulatory Agency (LASIMIRA) has decommissioned over 95 telecommunications’ masts and towers across the state.
The agency said it has also identified 20 others for decommissioning over illegal installation and non-compliant to regulatory standards.
LASIMIRA said it would soon carry out comprehensive regulatory inspection and standards compliance audit of all telecommunications’ masts base stations, towers, and other appurtenances of telecommunications in the state.
The move, which would commence any moment, it was gathered, is aimed to prevent any possible loss of further life that could arise as a result of damage to structural integrity of such building(s), and eventual collapse.
General Manager of LASMIRA, Mr. Babajide Odekunle, who spoke to journalists over the weekend, stressed that the agency had declared zero tolerance for such acts, adding that any institution or individual caught would henceforth be prosecuted.
Odekunle said that the exercise is geared towards ensuring orderly development of urban infrastructure in the construction and operation of telecommunications infrastructure deployed by telecommunications, tower operators and mobile network operators in the state.
The move, he said, was a fall- out of the collapsed building with an illegal and unapproved roof-top mast on Massey Street, Lagos Island, about two weeks ago, killing several people, saying, the exercise became highly necessary to protect lives and property of residents.
He reiterated the commitment of the administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to protection of lives and properties of the people, and warned that any non-compliant installed rooftop masts and those erected on perceived defective buildings with suspicious structural integrity, would be de-rigged.
He said that the task force constituted two weeks ago had identified for decommissioning, over 20 masts and towers that either do not meet acceptable standards or were erected illegally without approval, adding that about eight had been decommissioned already with the operation still on-going.
To strengthen its monitoring and compliance activities, he said that the agency would soon zonal offices in Badagry, Epe and Ikorodu.
He called on members of the public to come up with useful and adequate information on any suspicious activities around their neighbourhood that relates to digging of roads/pathways, erection of mast, towers either on the ground or on the rooftop, laying of cables, pipes, among others; and urged the people to “be that whistleblower by contacting us.”
He said that any institution, individual found to be perpetrating acts that is against the tenets of acceptable guidelines of government agencies, would be prosecuted.
