Cement hike: Stakeholder harps on use of asphalt for road construction

A stakeholder in the road construction sector, Engr. Aminu Musa has advocated for asphalt as a more considerable product for use in road construction as opposed to cement which he said had recorded a significant price increase in recent times.

Musa, a civil engineer and Chairman, Allwell Engineering Construction Company, made the call on Wednesday in Lagos, while speaking with newsmen, noting that if cement is used for road construction, it could further increase the demand for the product.

According to him, such could lead to more increase in price thereby having a direct impact on the ordinary citizen’s life, pointing out that “cement is a material closely related to the daily lives of the ordinary people.”

“The current trend shows a significant increase in cement prices. If road surfaces were to be converted to cement concrete, the domestic demand for cement in Nigeria would rise further, leading to a further increase in cement prices.

“Cement is a material closely related to the daily lives of ordinary people, and their sensitivity to cement prices is higher.

“Asphalt concrete has constantly been used in road constructions prior to now and in comparison with cement, has less relevance to the day-to-day lives of citizens, hence an increase in demand for the product would have very little or no effect on the people,” Musa said.

“Asphalt, on the other hand, is less relevant to the daily lives of the ordinary people, and they are less sensitive to changes in asphalt prices. Moreover, asphalt concrete has been used for road construction in the past, achieving a certain balance on demand and supply,” added.

Speaking further, Musa added that the recent hike in prices of goods across the country would further pose more challenges to the government, and consequently appealed to construction workers to look into the use of asphalt rather than cement for the construction of road surfaces in order to balance out its demand and supply.

This was just as he warned that if cement prices spiraled out of control due to policy adjustments by the Ministry of Works, current protests across the country over general price increase would exacerbate social instability and pose greater challenges for the government.

“Currently, protests against rising prices have erupted across the country. If cement prices spiral out of control due to policy adjustments by the Ministry of Works, it would exacerbate social instability and pose greater challenges for the government.

“In such a scenario, the Ministry of Works would not be contributing to Tinubu’s government but rather undermining it.

“Therefore, the policy advocated by the Ministry of Works to implement cement concrete road surfaces is extremely ill-advised during a period of severe inflation and strong public resistance to price hikes.

“The actions of the Minister of Works would only add fuel to the fire of the difficulties faced by the president and the current government,” Musa warned.