Realtors urge government action on cement supply

The government should take decisive action to resolve the issues that affect the easy availability and stability of cement supply and prices, so as not to jeopardize the attainment of its housing targets this year.

This is according to Dante V. Liban, former three-term QC congressman and current president of the National Real Estate Association (NREA).

The cement industry, presently confronted with the sharp fluctuations in supply and prices, is one of the 16 industries allied to housing and plays a critical role in subdivision development and production of low-cost and socialized housing units, according to the NREA head.

Reports on the cartelization of the local cement industry; dumping of imported cement in the local market; imposition of protective tariffs to regulate influx of imported cement; protection of local cement producers; as well as the high cost of local cement production are among the urgent issues that impact on the ability of the housing sector, as the main producers of housing units.

Government action is necessary to ensure the easy availability of cement supply at reasonable prices so as to sustain the construction requirements of housing production, Liban emphasized.

He informed that the government has targeted the production of some 300,000 housing units a year to meet portion of the local demand for low-cost and socialized housing, and to make a dent on the massive housing shortage of the country.

A decisive government action to resolve the cement issues is very timely with the seasonal picking up of housing construction activities during these summer months, he added.