CSIR wants Pozzolana cement used in govt projects

The Building and Road Research (BRRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSRI) has called on the government to use its well-researched Pozzomix Cement in all government projects to promote local content and ensure value for money.

Unlike the other cements on the local market, the BRRI said Pozzomix was produced to withstand all kinds of soil texture and environments.

The Director of BRRI, Dr Eugene Atiemo, told the Daily Graphic at Fumesua in the Ejisu-Juabeng Municipal Assembly in the Ashanti Region that beyond guaranteeing the durability of government projects, it was also important that the state made use of products of its scientists who were paid with the taxpayer’s money.

In an interview on the sidelines of a workshop at Fumesua on the deterioration of buildings, Dr Atiemo said using any other cement on the market required contractors to test the suitability of the soil before application, but that was not so with the Pozzomix Cement.

Workshop

The workshop, which assembled some of the country’s best and brightest in the building industry: architects, artisans and scientists, suggested to building contractors to test the ground, its chemical compounds, including its acidity or alkalinity, as well as the sulphate levels, to determine which type of cement to use.

He revealed that the cement on the market was good for specific environments, hence the need to embark on thorough preventive measures to know which type to use.

Dr Atiemo stated that to safeguard the future of the country’s building industry, all building sites needed to be thoroughly treated to fight termites infection before work commenced.

He said the campaign was not only to promote the Pozzomix cements but as the government’s scientists, it was incumbent on them to alert players in the industry to do the right thing.