The Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors of Ghana (ABCECG) has called for a local content policy and law for the construction industry to drive sustainable use of local materials.
According to the National President of the Association, Prosper Yao Ledi, due to the high cost of imported materials, many Ghanaians could not build houses, thereby affecting the growth of the construction industry in the country.
He was speaking at the 15th annual general meeting of the Association at Sokode-Lokoe, near Ho, over the weekend on the theme “Building a Sustainable Future; Innovations and Collaborations in Construction”.
Mr Ledi said the high components of imported building items, whose prices kept soaring due to the ever-weakening of the cedi, had made the government’s affordable housing projects no longer meaningful to the ordinary Ghanaian salary earner.
He said many of the developed countries depended on their local materials in their construction industry, therefore, it was important for Ghana to learn from those countries and enact appropriate laws.
According to him, another challenge confronting the construction industry in the country was the refusal of foreign construction companies to register with the association before they could apply for jobs.
He said the national association was not against foreign construction companies because their presence allowed for exchange of ideas and transfer of technology, but they needed to register with the association.
The Director of Works at the Ministry for Works and Housing, Ebenezer Mac-Tetteh, who represented the sector Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said the construction industry was crucial to the development of the country, and the government was committed to removing obstacles militating against its growth.
He said the government had created an enabling environment for growth and stressed the need for joint ventures between local and foreign construction companies to facilitate mutual benefit.
The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Letsa, asked the association to use modern technology in the discharge of their work to protect the environment to ensure safety at all times for the benefit of the present and future generations.
The Ho Municipal Chief Executive, Divine K. Bosson, expressed dissatisfaction about the way some of the members of the association carried out government’s projects, especially unnecessary delays as well as execution of shoddy works.
He called for a change of attitude to ensure value for money.
FROM SAMUEL AGBEWODE, SOKODE-LOKOE
