Cement production under scrutiny

A law to regulate the production of cement in the country has been presented to Parliament. When passed, it will help develop a better cement production industry, said the Director-General of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Prof. Alex Dodoo.

The legislation, which is hoped to take effect next year, according to Prof. Dodoo, “will help promote efficient and safe cement in the country”.

“We are having engagements with the entire cement industry to improve the materials and standards of cement. The interest in Ghana is to attract investment, but investments should not be to the detriment of our lives,” he said.

To this end, he added that: “We will not compromise on the safety of any building or construction in the country. We will enforce and make sure Ghana is a safe place”.

This development comes not long after the construction of new cement factories in the country was suspended by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI).

The temporary measure was aimed at streamlining the issuance of permits by various regulatory institutions before the establishment of new cement factories could be considered.

The Director-General of GSA, who was speaking at a workshop on ‘Enhancing the Quality of Cement in Ghana – Quality Controls by Ghana Standards Authority’, lauded the contributions of the German Government.

He noted the GSA had learned so much and that they had been able to take transformational projects through the partnership provided by the German Government.

The workshop, organised in Accra, is said to be part of an ongoing institutional partnership agreement between four institutions on “Improving the standards of public test laboratories in the field of construction materials and chemicals”.

The institutions are the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI), the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), and the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The workshop, among others, sought to bring to the fore the importance of producing quality cement in the broader framework of ensuring that buildings are resilient and safe.

The Head of the Engineering Department at GSA, Ing. Vincent Arthur, speaking at the event, reiterated the authority’s commitment to the enforcement of standards in the building and construction sector of the country.

He urged all manufacturers of building and construction products to collaborate with the GSA to ensure that their products meet the right requirements.

A researcher from BAM, Dr. Wolfram Schmidt, on his part, noted that the partnership between his outfit, GSA and MoTI was ensuring that the production of cement in the country was safer and more efficient.

He reiterated the German Government’s commitment to continuing the partnership and noted that they will support GSA to help develop Ghana’s construction industry.

The platform also provided the forum for stakeholders to contribute to strategising and discuss various measures to be taken to ensure that the cement produced and offered on the market is quality.

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