Workshop on new building technology ends

A 10-day intensive workshop to deliberate on the use of Compressed Earth Bricks (CEB) for building projects aimed at  minimizing the cost of building and providing affordable housing has ended on Monday at Don Bosco Technical Institute at Odumase in Sunyani West District.

The 21 trainers of trainees who participated were mainly building instructors drawn from some Technical and Vocational Education institutions (TVET) under the Ghana Education Service (GES).

The workshop was organised by the Technical and Vocational Education Division (TVED) of the GES with support from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund).

Participants were taken through CEB procedures, identification and testing of soils, procedures for brick molding, molding and sieving as well as Information Communication Technology (ICT) and human resource development.

Addressing the close of the workshop on Tuesday, Mr. Asamoah Duodu, Director of TVED, said the use of the CEBs, “which contains soil and a small quantity of cement for building is affordable”.

Considering the high cost of cement, the new technology if applied would relieve Ghanaians, especially those in formal employment from the high cost of building, he added.

Mr. Duodu said TVED would soon submit proposals to the Ministry of Education and seek funding to supply all the 38 TVET institutions under GES with manual molding machines used for the manufacture of CEBs.

The Rev Fr Anthony Okpala Uche, Principal of Don Bosco Technical Institute, commended the government and its development partners for establishing technical institutions in the country.

Mr. Charles Ayertey, course prefect, urged the GES to ensure that the CEB machines were made available to the technical institutions to sustain the interest of students and trainers.

Source: GNA