Rising cement price: Engineer urges return to asphalt for road construction

A Civil Engineer,  Mr Aminu Musa, has advised government at all levels to re-adopt asphalt as more suitable material  for road construction as the price of cement continues to rise in the country.

Musa, the Chairman of Allwell Engineering Construction Company,  stated this at a media parley on Tuesday in Lagos. 

The construction boss insisted that asphalt was a more considerable product for road construction as opposed to cement which had been showing a significant increase in prices presently.

He said, “If cement is being used for road construction, it could further increase the demand for the product, which would lead to more increase in price, thereby having a direct negative impact on the life of ordinary citizen.”

According to him, the current trend shows a significant increase in cement prices, adding that if road surfaces were to be converted to concrete cement, the domestic demand for cement in Nigeria would rise further, leading to a further increase in cement prices. 

He added, “Cement is a material closely related to the daily lives of the ordinary people, and their sensitivity to cement prices is higher.

“Asphalt concrete had constantly been used in road constructions prior to now and in comparison with cement, has less relevance to the day-to-day lives of citizens. An increase in demand for asphalt will have very little or no effect on the people.

“Moreover, asphalt has been used for road construction in the past, achieving a certain balance on demand and supply.”

Musa appealed to construction workers to look into the use of asphalt rather than cement for construction of road surfaces in order to balance out its demand and supply.

“Currently, protests against rising costs have erupted across the country. If cement prices spiral out of control due to policy adjustments by the ministry of works, it will exacerbate social instability and pose greater challenges for the government. 

“In such a scenario, the Ministry of Works will not be contributing to the Tinubu’s government but rather undermining it.

“Therefore, the policy advocated by the ministry to implement cement concrete road surfaces is extremely ill-advised during a period of severe inflation and strong public resistance to price hikes. 

“The actions of the Minister of Works will only add fuel to the fire of the difficulties faced by the President and the current government,” he added.