Professionals under the aegis of Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG) have urged the Federal Government to stop unchecked increases in the price of cement in the country.

The guild noted that there are feelers that cement manufacturers are planning an upward review of cement prices in early January 2024. BCPG said, if the plan becomes a reality, the price of ready-mix concrete will also be increased, while the cost of in-situ production of concrete will rise significantly, warning that if such increment is allowed to take place; it will worsen the economic situation of the nation.

Cement is an essential ingredient in the production of buildings. In the past years, frequent increase in cement price has impacted negatively on the nation’s housing sector while experience has shown that high price of cement tends to encourage reduction in the quality of building production.

BCPG said the consequence of this is the emergence of weak buildings that intensifies the occurrence of building collapse. President of Guild, Sulaimon Yusuf, while speaking on the development said: “Prioritising safety in the Nigerian built environment and in the general interest of the public, the BCPG passionately appeals to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to invite cement manufacturers for an urgent discussion to forestall the impending increase in the price of cement.

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 him, any further increase in the price of cement will be a direct threat to the Renewed Hope Housing Programme of the Federal Government.

“Completion of ongoing building projects might be jeopardised by the impending hike in the price of cement. Buildings abandoned during the construction process aggravate the risk of building collapse. With the dwindling purchasing power, new buildings might lack patronage and occupants due to high rental value,” he said.

Yusuf said efforts made by President Tinubu while he was Governor of Lagos State at mitigating building collapse syndrome were well documented in the BCPG records, noting that at the time he rounded up as the Governor of Lagos State in 2007, the market price of cement was N1,300.

He, therefore, challenged the president not to relent in his past efforts at tackling the incessant collapse of buildings.”His wealth of experience gained from Lagos on solution to building collapse should be brought to bear on the national level to save Nigeria from the unenviable position of a nation that records frequent incidence of building collapse in the whole world.

“It is high time our president paid serious attention to resolving the challenges of building collapse. Frequent increase in the price of cement is one of these challenges,” BCPG said.