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Mrs Halima Tayo Alao, the Minister of Environment, Housing and Urban Development, says government is determined to find a lasting solution to the problem of high cost of building materials.
She spoke Tuesday in Abuja while briefing newsmen on government’s implementation of its action plan on affordable housing delivery. Alao said one of the strategies being adopted by government was to support local producers to encourage the use of local building materials for its housing delivery. "As long as we continue to import, the prices of building materials will continue to rise,’’ she added. The Minister of State in the Ministry, Chief Chuka Odom, also explained that the monopoly of the cement market by a few people was responsible for the high cost of the commodity. "The fluctuation in the prices of cement does not reflect the true price of the commodity in the market, because a few marketers sit down somewhere to determine the price,’’ he said. Odom said the directive by President Yar’Adua on the importation of the commodity was to force the price down, to enable Nigerians get affordable housing. He said government was looking at other areas with a view to find adequate local materials that were climatically accepted as substitutes to imported building materials. The minister said government was also trying for refocus the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria for efficient service delivery.
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