Cement Shortage Stalls Dev Projects In U. West

MOST on-going development projects in the Upper West Region are at a standstill as a result of an acute shortage of cement in the region during the past month.
Buoyed by this development, the price of the commodity has shot up to ¢90,000 per bag up by ¢ 10,000 from the previous price of ¢80,000.
Severely affected by the scarcity are construction projects, notably the construction of culverts and drains.
Most retail outlets in the Wa township are empty, with the inscription 'No cement' displayed.
While some of the dealers put the blame on the manufacturers of the product, others attribute the shortage to the inability of distributors to get vehicles to cart the product to the region.
Abubakari Hamid, a prominent cement dealer in Wa, however, said the shortage was a national problem.
John Ibrahim Donkor, a Wa-based building contractor said there was information that all the articulated trucks were now engaged in carting cocoa beans to the ports for export because their owners found that a more profitable venture than carting cement to the North.
He said that unless an immediate solution was found to the problem, national projects would not be completed on schedule.