High cost of building supplies means crisis in housing, says FG
Sets up panel to review cost, verify manufacturers’ claims
Mof Housing with the price of a bag of ceand Urban Development in some parts of the ment, Ahmed Dangiwa, has country reported to be as stated that amid economic high as N10,000 from the hardship, an increase in esaverage cost of N5,500 sential building mat erials months ago, this represents will mean a crisis in deliverabout a 100 per cent rise. We ing houses in the countr y. have also seen near- record At the meeting with ce - high escalations in the ment and building materiprices of other items such as als manufacturers in Abuja, iron rods and other fittings. yesterday, Dangiwa said in the past three months, the country had witnessed a steady, recurring and alarming increase in th e prices of building materials.
“This situation has wors - ened in the past two weeks, “So, this is a crisis for housing delivery. An increase in the cost of building houses means that more and more Nigerians can no longer afford to own houses and provide decent shelter for themselves and their loved ones,” he added.
According to Dangiwa, part of the efforts is to look at the facts on the ground, discuss the genuin e challenges, analyse them and seek ways to address the persistent challenge of rising prices in the construction industr y and to ensure the deliver y of affordable housing for all Nigerians.
EANWHILE,
govern - ment has set up a technical committee to review the cost of cement and verify manufacturers’ claims. The minister further directed the Permanent Secretar y, Dr Marcus Ogunbiyi, to get the committee working quickly and come up with recommendations based on the issues raised by manufacturers, so they could be taken to the Federal Executive Council ( FEC).
Government said cement manufacturers were not doing enough to stem the rising cost of cement in the country, warning that it would not accept a situa - tion where the price of essential building materials like cement continue to rise uncontrollably.