Lagos - The Lagos State Urban Furniture Regulatory Unit (UFRU) announced
plans to pull down more defective telecommunications masts.
The agency has lifted a suspension of its earlier demolition exercise.
The
agency had last year instructed banks, Internet Service Providers
(ISPs), insurance companies and other firms to immediately replace old
hollow pipe telecoms masts in the state and replace them with galvanised
steel masts.
It noted that the order was given following the
incessant collapse of the old masts in the state at the slightest wind
storm, leading to deaths and destruction of properties.
As at the
December deadline issued to the mast owners, none complied with the
directive prompting the agency to commence massive pulling down of such
mast across the state.
The exercise was however halted following appeals by several stakeholders for more time.
One
of the stakeholders and President, Internet Service Providers
Association of Nigeria ( ISPAN), Sunday Folayan, admitted that there was
need for old masts to be pulled down but that the owners needed more
time to comply with the Lagos state directive.
Folayan's appeal and many others from top industry stakeholders led to the temporary suspension of the pulling down exercise.
A top official of UFRU however said the exercise would resume any time this month.
The
official, who requested anonymity, said many of the mast owners were
not making any serious effort to comply with the pulling down
directive.
“We have given them enough time. We stopped the
exercise because many banks appealed to us to allow them pull down the
masts by themselves. That was one month ago. Our finding has shown that
the appeal was just a ploy to buy more time. Since we stopped the
exercise, not one single defective mast has been pulled down by their
owners.
"This is a clear indication that the mast owners are
obviously not serious about pulling down those dangerous masts. Any time
from this month, I can assure you that our men will start pulling down
those masts again,” the official said.
He noted that if the
defective masts were not pulled down before the rainy session begun,
more Lagos residents might be at risk as witnessed during the last rainy
session when some residents were injured by defective masts destroyed
by heavy wind.
At the last pulling down exercise, several banking services were disru
