Reps kick against move to ban importation of cement

THE House of Representatives, on Wednesday, kicked against a motion that sought to ban importation of cement in the country.
A member, Honourable Hassan Saleh, had through a motion, entitled: “Urgent need to investigate the non-implementation of the backward integration policy on local production of cement,” asked the House to support local production of cement.
In his lead debate, he noted that “the management of Dangote Cement Plc has concluded arrangements to temporarily close down its four million metric per annum cement factory in Gboko, Benue State.”
According to him, “this action is informed by the current glut of cement in the country, which is a direct fallout from increase in local production and which has been further compounded by the continued importation of subsidised cement into the country and resulting in the commodity flooding the market.”
To this end, he noted that, “the Federal Government is yet to vigorously pursue and implement the provision of the cement backward integration policy, which was initiated to encourage and protect local manufacturers from the dumping of cement products into the country through importation.”
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