Sequel to the sudden rise in the prices of cement in Rivers State, building construction activities in many parts of the state have been stalled.
Some developers who spoke with our correspondent said that they could no longer cope with the current prices of cement in the state.
The Tide’s checks on the current price regime yesterday revealed that a bag of Dangote Cement which was sold at N3,000 last week now goes for between N4,000 and N4,500, while a bag of Elephant Cement that sold for N2,600 now sells at N3,500.
Our correspondent reports that Bua Cement was not available in many stores visited, but attendants told The Tide that a bag of the product is now between N3,300 and N3,500.
The new price regime represents an increase of about N900 per bag, which translates to about 45 percent increase in a swoop.
Further checks by The Tide revealed that the sudden increase in cement prices was not peculiar to Rivers State alone but cuts across the country.
Our correspondent who visited some of the construction sites in the state reports that many builders have stopped works on ongoing constructions.
It was gathered that the sudden increase in price of cement became visible during the #EndSARS protests across the country.
Reacting to the development in an interview with The Tide, a Pastor in one of the new generation Pentecostal churches, Pastor Emeka James, who was undertaking a building construction at Rumuekini Akpor, said he was not willing to pay extra N900 on a bag of cement now, but would rather wait till the situation that led to the sudden increase normalises.
“Just two weeks ago, I bought a bag for N2,600, only to mobilise for continuation of work today and find out that the price has increased to N3,500.
“How many bags will I buy with the little amount I have now. I will wait till things normalise and I know things will normalise,” James said.
In his own response,  Mr Chika Ishmael who is a civil servant in Port Harcourt, said he used to buy cement on daily basis due to the ongoing church building project he was undertaking, but that the sudden increase in cement price has caused a setback to the project.
However, a cement dealer in Alakahia, near the University of Port Harcourt, Henry Odum, explained that the shortage in supply of cement was responsible for the sudden increase in cement price.
According to him, the high cost of transporting cement to Port H arcourt occasioned by the #EndSARS protests led to the increase in the price of the product.
Odum who said that he had exhausted all the cements he had in stock, however, expressed hope that things would return to normalcy as soon as the protests are over.

Corlins Walter