NAN-H-66
Materials
By Usman Aliyu
Ilorin, April 18, 2017 (NAN) Mr Samuel Egeruan, the Chairman of Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) in Kwara, has called for the establishment of industries to produce local building materials.
Egeruan, who made the call in Ilorin on Tuesday while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said such local materials would be used as substitutes for imported ones which were often expensive.
The NIQS chairman said that Nigeria was blessed with lots of resources needed in the construction industry, but needed processing technology to make them suitable for the industry.
“We are aware that we have a lot of resources that are suitable for construction.
“But unfortunately for now, a lot of materials are being imported into the country for construction.
“I want to, through this medium, encourage the use of local building materials.
“We also want to draw the attention of the government to the fact that that we have a lot of resources.
‘‘There is urgent need for the establishment of local industries to process these local materials for our usage in the construction industry.
‘‘This is because for now, the imported materials we use in the construction industry are very expensive,” he said.
The building expert said the use of local materials would go a long way in tackling the challenges in the building and construction industry.
“We are sure that the use of local materials will alleviate the problem in building and construction as far as using materials is concerned,” the chairman said.
He also commended the patronage of local professionals by the federal, state and local governments in the country.
Egeruan, however, advised individuals, government and corporate bodies to always seek advice from a consultant quantity surveyor before embarking on any construction job.
He attributed the incidence of building collapse to the failure to engage qualified professionals in the industry. (NAN)
AUO/MOL/OJO
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(Edited by Mustapha Lamidi/Mufutau Ojo)