President of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE), Ing. Kwabena Bempong, has emphasized that the government’s role does not include the construction of houses.
Instead, he stated that the government should focus on providing appropriate policies and establishing the right institutional framework.
Additionally, Ing. Bempong highlighted the importance of the government facilitating easy access to affordable lands, financing, building materials, and basic infrastructure.
During his 52nd Presidential Address to Engineers at the Ghana Shippers Authority, Shippers House in North Ridge, Accra, Ing. Bempong expressed the view that governments should prioritize the pursuit of social housing to ensure affordability for low-income workers.
He noted that the rising costs of construction and the increasing pace of urbanization often result in a housing market that caters mainly to the affluent, leaving those in the low to medium-income category without access to suitable housing.
“Housing is defined as unaffordable if more than 30% of the monthly or annual income of a household is spent on housing”, he added.
Ing. Kwabena Bempong highlighted the significant reliance on imported building materials in Ghana, estimating that approximately 80% of such materials are imported. These imports are susceptible to global economic trends, including commodity pricing, high labor costs, and geopolitical conflicts.
To address this issue, Ing. Bempong recommended the utilization of affordable building materials, specifically suggesting the use of bio-based materials such as timber and bamboo. Additionally, he proposed improvements in non-renewable building materials, including green cement, pulverized fly ash, blast furnace slag, calcined clay, burnt rice husk, and natural pozzolans.
Furthermore, the GhIE President advocated for the adoption of alternative building technologies, such as rammed earth building, interlocking bricks construction, reinforced expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam building systems, as well as glass fiber-reinforced gypsum and light gauge steel-framed structures (LGFS).
The ceremony, held at the Ghana Shippers Authority in North Ridge, Accra, was attended by various notable figures, including the wife of the GhIE President, ACP Priscilla Bempong, Vice-President Ing. Sophia Abena Tijani, President-Elect Ing. Ludwig Hesse, Immediate Past President Ing. Rev. Prof. Charles Anum Adams, Ing (Mrs.) Carlien Bou-Chedid, Immediate Past President of the Federation of African Engineering Organization (FAEO), Ing. Leslie Alex Ayeh, Immediate Past President of the West African Federation of Engineering Organization (WAFEO), council members of GhIE, past presidents of GhIE, Women in Engineering (WINE), and representatives of other professional bodies.