A Real Estate Developer, Architect Bello Moruf, has advocated the use of local materials in the built environment in order to reduce the high cost of building houses in the country.
Similarly, Moruf made a case for the adoption of brick building, which he said, is very cheap and less stressful, claiming that with it, a “house can be assembled in a day.”
The developer, who spoke with our Correspondent in Abuja, also called on the federal and state governments to embrace brick building in order to bridge the huge housing deficit in the country.
He said: “It is very possible and houses can be affordable if we can change our system of design by using local materials. The input of these modern things: cement, sand and gravel have made things very expensive. If it were to be this hydroform something, you just key it in, which is sand.
“You hardly need cement. Per every tipper of sand, which is five cubicmeter, you only need two bags of cement just to toughen it.
“So, if you have hydro form type of blocks, you just key it in. A whole building can be assembled in a day, all you need is just to be assembling them, you don’t need cement to bond it.
“You have the psyche of our people too, who will frown at living in a brick block, which is another problem, but it is going to be cheaper”.
Moruf continued: “The building is very strong and reliable. It is load bearing and has no problem about structural. You can go to any length. It is the columns and beams that carry all buildings, so you can do a skeletal type of framework and assemble all of the building. The partition can be done with any type of material, like plywood or bamboo.
“If we have a committed government, it will tackle the deficit in the housing sector because the money is there. Government can change the mode of construction and use locally sourced materials. Like a bungalow, all you need from the foundation to the DPC is the conventional type we are using now.
“All other things, except for the roof, is going to be local, which is laterite, and it is very beautiful. If you had the opportunity of attending the exposition at the Eagles Square by the Raw Materials and Development Council, there is this exposition there.
“If you see the way they arranged the brick work there, it was beautiful. Apart from that, it doesn’t retain heat. You don’t even need air-conditioning. It is even bulletproof”.
