GHACEM eyes partnership with STX
THE MANAGEMENT of GHACEM, a subsidiary of Heidelberg Cement Group, says it is ready to work in partnership with the Korean construction firm, STX Construction Limited, in terms of supply of cement when the company commences the construction of the 200,000 units' houses in the country.
The company says its statistics indicates that given the current state of agreement reached between the Korean firm and the government of Ghana, over 900milion bags of cement will be needed for the construction, a situation which GHACEM believes will require increase in daily production.
The acting Commercial Director of GHACEM, Mr. Philip Archer, who disclosed this information to The Chronicle in an interview, said even though it was early days to know which system of supply the Korean firm would be adopting, GHACEM would be ready to partner the construction firm in the supply of cement and other building materials to facilitate the successful completion of the project.
Mr. Archer said GHACEM currently produce 2.4million tonnes of cement a year from its two production plants at Takoradi and Tema, with an average of 45,000 tonnes per week. Notwithstanding this figure, the acting Commercial Director of the country's leading cement producer said GHACEM will continue to enhance its production stock to meet the increasing demands of the country's infrastructural sector.
In addition, he noted that considering the boom in Ghana's infrastructure development, it is estimated that the demand for cement on year basis could hit 8% for the next 20 years, a situation which he said, encourages GHACEM to position itself adequately for the challenge.
'GHACEM is very much aware of the prospects in the road and infrastructure sector, considering the discovery of oil and the government's efforts at bridging the huge housing gap, there is the need to increase production to meet the demand,' he noted.
Meanwhile, as part of efforts to streamline its activities and establish cordial relationship with its business partners, the company is organizing a training workshop for its major distributors and block makers across the country on how to effectively use the product for other services.
The workshop, according to Mr. Archer, is aimed at sensitizing stakeholders in the cement industry on how to efficiently apply the product to ensure maximum economic benefit. It is also aimed at offering the best technical knowledge to block makers on how to select the required materials such as water, sand and the cement itself to produce quality blocks.
Mr. Archer said apart from the economic benefits, the company would also take participants into safety industrial practices at the work place. He said GHACEM expects to train about 300 block makers in the Ashanti Region in addition to existing 400 who have already been trained in the Greater Accra and Eastern Regions after which it would extend the programme to Brong Ahafo and the three Northern Regions.
Mr. Archer lamented that quite often some block makers refuse to apply the required standard practice in the production of blocks, a practice which he said, does not conform to the International Standard Organization(ISO) criteria which GHACEM is a committed member. He also noted that about 18 training programmes would be held in the region within the three month period.