The State housing agenda has promoted the usage of Appropriate Building Materials Technologies (ABMT) that lowers construction costs besides improving the quality and speed of construction by 50 percent.
The Officer-In-Charge of ABMT in Nakuru County, Justus Osoro said the construction materials are cost-effective, innovative and environmentally friendly.
He was speaking on Monday during an interview with KNA at the research centre at Viwanda.
Osoro also said the building materials are amenable to the climatic and social-economic conditions of an area since the interlocking blocks are made at the building site, where there are no transportation costs.
“Considering that building materials account for about 60 per cent of the total construction costs, ABMT will be instrumental in lowering construction costs, because the new technologies can reduce materials cost by 50 percent,’’ said Osoro.
He said the Ministry of Housing has set up ABMT centres countrywide in order to pick up the pace for roll out of the achievement of the Big Four agenda which is the clarion call of the Jubilee government.
Osoro said the shortage of decent housing was a problem, especially for the low-income households who comprise more than 70 per cent of residents in the urban areas.
However, he said efforts made in the development of ABMT has been going on since the 1970s, but the acceptance of the new technologies was not being utilized on a scale comparable to that of more expensive materials and that has resulted in the ever-increasing housing shortage.
He said, the aggressive promotion of the housing agenda by the government has played a key role in the back up of ABMT, unlike in the past when the uptake was slow.
By Veronica Bosibori
