THE Immediate past Executive Director of the Nigerian Building & Road Research Institute (NBRRI), Professor Danladi Matawali, has called on Nigerians to take advantage of other substitutes of cement, which are cheaper in cost, to achieve low cost housing production in the country.
Making the call during the 15th NBRRI International Conference held in Abuja with the theme “Circular Economy in the Built Environment for Enhanced Performance of the Nigerian Construction Industry,” Matawali described the hike in cement price as detrimental to the nation’s quest for affordable housing.
He argued that inflation had been a major contributor to cement pricing in the country.
Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, charged NBRRI to source more locally developed construction materials which would help address the challenges facing the construction industry in the country.
According to the minister, the construction sector forms an important aspect of the nation’s economy and must be given relevance in order to drive the actualisation of a circular economy in the construction industry.
Onu who lamented on the high level of resources the country spent on the importation of bitumen for road construction, stressed the need of finding a lasting solution to the challenges by encouraging the use of concrete in road construction.
The minister, who also revealed that Nigeria has one of the largest deposits of bitumen sand cut across four states of the federation, said that bitumen deposit in the country is over 42 billion barrels; out of which has as many as 43 industrial chemicals which can be obtained from it.
The minister, therefore, called for more private investment towards the production of bitumen in the country, promised that the government will provide an enabling environment for these investors; plus other incentives.
“We have to bring in the private sector to invest in local bitumen production. All necessary incentives should be provided for this to happen as we cannot have huge deposit bitumen sand in our country and we continue to import bitumen from other countries. This does not make sense and cannot be allowed to continue.
“The business people who currently import bitumen into the country should consider investing in local bitumen production. When this happens, they can help meet our local demands in the country and their excess can be exported to other countries to further strengthen our economy.”
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