The Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG) made a plea to President Bola Tinubu to stop the projected increase in cement costs in January 2024. In a statement signed by the National President, Sulaimon Yusuf, and the General Secretary, Adenike Ayanda, BCPG predicted that the increase would result in poor building practices and a rise in building collapses across the country....CONTINUE READING
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the Guild is made up of seven specialists in the built environment: surveyors, town planners, architects, quantity surveyors, engineers, builders, and estate surveyors and valuers.
It stated there were feelers that early in January 2024, cement makers planned to review cement pricing upward according to a Vanguard report. According to the guild, if this is allowed to happen, it will worsen the economic situation of things. It said, “Cement is an essential ingredient in the production of building. Frequency in the increase of its price has impacted negatively in the nation’s housing sector. Experience has shown that the high price of cement tends to encourage a reduction in the quality of building production.”
It added that the consequence of this could be the emergence of weak buildings that intensify the occurrence of building collapse. The BCPG urged President Tinubu to call a quick meeting with cement producers to avert the upcoming price hike.
It stated, “The president needs to interrogate the current N5,700 market price of a 50kg bag of cement, despite the N3,500 price of the product recently promised by one of the cement manufacturers,”
According to BCPG, the Federal Government’s “Renewed Hope” Housing Program would be jeopardized by any additional cement price increases. It added that the projected increase in cement prices could potentially jeopardize the completion of ongoing building projects as buildings abandoned during the process of construction aggravate the risk of building collapse.
