FG vows to ensure improved quality of cement

Determined to put in place measures to reduce the incident of building collapse in the country the Federal Government has vowed to improve supervision and enforcement standards for the cement industry.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja while speaking at the Second Lafarge National Dialogue series.

The conference, with the theme “Building collapse: An assessment of building practices in Nigeria and the imperative for sustainable construction” was attended by stakeholders in the building construction industry.
Aganga said with the improvement in supervision in the cement industry, Nigerians would not have to bother about the worrisome spate of building construction related hazards.
He added that the government is leaving no stone unturned in its efforts at establishing quality standards in the country.
The minister said, “A new era of consciousness has begun and will be sustained effectively. To this end, we are working on introduction of courses on standards in universities in the country.

“As instrument of positive change, we are responding appropriately to incidence and occurrences as they arise, while working assiduously to prevent others from ever occurring.
“Government is fighting the scourge with all resources in order to ensure that the trend is permanently halted.
“The implementation of ISO standards for building as well as the enforcement of building codes are currently being embarked upon.”

Represented by the Permanent Secretary, FMITI, Amb. Abdulkadir Musa, the minister said the challenge that building collapse is imposing to the nation is a source of concern to the government.
Also speaking at the event, the Executive Vice President and Country Chief Executive, Lafarge Group, Mr Guillaume Roux said the company would provide solutions to support urbanization and the growing population of the country.
He said the company’s commitment to the well being of its consumers culminated in the innovation towards re-awakening of the industry on the need to tackle the menace of building collapse.