BUA committed to price reduction, says director

Group Executive Director (GED) of BUA Cement PLC Kabir Rabiu yesterday reaffirmed his company’s commitment to lowering the price of cement from between N9, 000 and N15, 000 to between N7, 000 and N8, 000.

He however hinged the company’s commitment to the pledge cement manufacturers made during their meeting with the Federal Government on the nearness of the markets to their plants nationwide.

Rabiu stated that with the inauguration of the BUA plant in Kalambiana, Sokoto State, the company plans to dispatch an additional 165 trucks daily from the plant’s cement allocation, amounting to nearly 400 trucks of cement daily entering the market.

Rabiu reaffirmed this commitment when the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi visited the new BUA Cement facility, where he underscored the pivotal role cement would play in the road infrastructure transformation spearheaded by the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

According to a statement by spokesman to the Federal Ministry of Works, Olusola Abiola, the minister was at the factory as part of his inspection of the ongoing rehabilitation of highways in the State as well as Katsina, Kaduna and Zamfara States.

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The statement reads: “We know that concrete road technology is going to be a huge success for the benefit of our people.

“We are sure that utilizing concrete road technology is the right decision and so we have not made any mistakes insisting that concrete road technology should take its root, especially in some of these key projects.

“First, I’m here to inspect, as you know, a very ambitious road project being embarked upon by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“The Federal Government was constructing 372 kilometers of roads, multiplied by two, which means its dualisation.

“One road is an existing one, which we are doing complete rebuilding, and then a brand new road, again, of 372, a total of 744 km roads.

“Mr. President wants this road very fast but wasn’t too sure if we can get the volume of cement to use. So, we are constructing the first 372 kilometers running from Kaduna, Zaria, Zamfara, to Sokoto, with asphalt as the carriageway, and then the shoulders will be concrete.

“But the entire new lane, carriageway, will be constructed with concrete.”

He said the President’s agenda for the road sector aims for significant improvements, with cement and concrete roads playing pivotal roles and he’s giving all the support.

He said: “So, we still expect that you will fulfill the promise you made to Mr. President as we’re going back to the status quo so that the public can benefit.

“The very massive housing project Mr. President has embarked upon will definitely see the light of the day.

“And also, the massive road construction Mr. President has embarked upon will also benefit from this initiative”, he added.

Umahi expressed his view of the new cement factory, describing it as impressive, saying, “So, we have gone there, we have seen, and it’s quite amazing, the complexity of the cement factory of BUA in Sokoto”.

Rabiu, reiterated his company’s commitment to the pledge it made to the Federal government on the reduction of cement prices.

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He said: “Then we gave a commitment, not only on the pricing but also on additional capacity to go to the market, reassuring that with 165 additional trucks on a daily basis from our Sokoto cement allotment, we’re putting almost 400 trucks by day of cement into the market.

“We believe this additional capacity is going to have a serious positive effect on the supply and demand issue in the country, he emphasized.

“We also gave in our commitment that we don’t believe cement should sell more than 7,000 Naira anywhere in Nigeria.

“We will continue to do our best to support this administration, to support Mr. President’s agenda in ensuring that Nigerian economy is back on its feet and is doing so much better than it is doing at the moment.”

Senate Chairman of the Committee on Housing, Aminu Tambuwal noted that cement product is very critical and a major component in the delivery of housing projects by the governments and the private sector.