Fumesua, (Ash), May 29, GNA- The Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, has warned that Government's effort to provide affordable houses to workers would not be achieved if the focus is not on the use of local building materials.

Mr Kwaku Amoah-Mensah, Director of the BRRI said the use of imported and foreign building materials was "swelling up the cost of building".

He was speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview at Fumesua in the Ejisu-Juabeng District, on strategies that the Government could adopt to facilitate the provision of cost effective houses to workers. He said burnt bricks and Pozzolana, a cement product developed by the BRRI through the use of clay, were materials that could be used in the construction industry at a cheaper cost.

Mr Amoah-Mensah disagreed with public perception that bricks are expensive and of inferior quality, explaining that the product was cheaper than sandcrete cement blocks, and could withstand fire disaster. "Whereas it takes about 72 hours of continuous fire to disintegrate a brick house, it takes only 12 hours of fire to disintegrate sandcrete cement bock structures," he said.

Mr Amoah-Mensah commended the Ejisu-Juabeng District Assembly for its bold initiative in collaborating with the BRRI in the use of locally developed materials for the provision of houses and KVIP toilet facilities. 29 May 05