Cement Price Slash: Valuer Foresees Employment Boom

Following the recent
pronouncement by the Dangote Cement Company that it has reduced the price of its cement to N1,000, an estate surveyor and valuer in Port Harcourt, Mr Benjamin Oti, has said that such development is a step in the right direction and will generate more employment in the housing sector.
Speaking with The Tide in his office in Port Harcourt, the real estate professional noted that if the same quantity of 50kg bag of cement sold between N2,200 and N2,000 has now been reduced to between N1,000 and N1150, it will mean there is going to be a multiplier effect in the building industry.
Oti however urged the state governments, especially Rivers State to take advantage of the lower price of cement to undertake mass low costs housing which may not be high-rise buildings.
He also noted that many willing persons who want to build houses, but have been considering the cost of building materials, can be encouraged to start the project because of the cement price slash.
“One disadvantage in such cement price slash is that the quality may be rescued (but not really a disadvantage per-se) provided it could be used to building houses, but not high-rise building, and we have vast land in many parts of the state and country that can be used to provide houses for the people,” he said.
Oti noted that when more houses are built, as well as estates, that more estate managers will be engaged to manage the place and other incidental employment will also be created.
On information and communication technology, the expert said that ICT has been helping and will continue to help valuers in the discharge of their duties, noting that someone in Port Harcourt can transact business in Lagos through the ICT.

Corlins Walter