The Minister for Works and Housing, Hon. Francis Asenso-Boakye has called for the use of local building materials in the construction of housing in the country in order to make housing affordable to everyone.
The Minister said incorporating the use of local building materials in housing construction is in line with the Government’s agenda of promoting the use of local building materials in the construction industry.
Hon. Asenso-Boakye who was accompanied by the Minister of State, Hon. Dr. Freda Prempeh said this when he visited Nelplast Ghana Limited, a private indigenous company that uses plastic waste to construct housing at an affordable rate.
“I saw this Nelplast project on social media then I looked for his number and I called him and he came to the office and we arranged for me to come here to have a look. From the video, I was excited that if a young smart Ghanaian is able to produce a house for 60,000 Ghana cedis then it’s something that is worth looking at”, he said.
He commended Nelplast for bringing up such an innovative solution to the plastic waste menace the country is faced with and said his visit to the company shows the importance he attaches to the use of local building materials.
The Minster, therefore, assured the company of the government’s support to enable them to produce more of such houses for the middle to low-income earners.
He revealed that he has engaged the Ministries of Health and Education to in factor the use of local building materials in the construction of their facilities.
Hon. Asenso-Boakye said the recycling of plastic waste into housing construction is very beneficial as it conserves the environment and creates jobs for Ghanaian.
Mr. Nelson Boateng, the Founder and CEO of Nelplast Ghana Limited said the company started as a plastic recycling company that was producing palate for polybags. However, the move by the government to ban the production of plastics in the country in 2015 motivated him to go into the production of pavement blocks and building materials.
He said that one-bedroom self-contained house by Nelplast is 60,000 cedis whilst the 2 bedroom is at 80,000 cedis. He added that the costs will reduce when more housing facilities are constructed and therefore appealed to the government to offer the company an opportunity to build affordable houses for Ghanaians.
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