A bag of cement now goes for at least Shs 40,000, up from the Shs 28,000 last year. Last year a 12-millimeter (mm) iron bar went for Shs 36,000. It is now at Shs 48,000, while a piece of 28-gauge iron sheet is sold at Shs 73,000 from the initial Shs 47,000 only 12 months ago.
Key players in the construction industry attribute the increment in prices to the scarcity of raw materials and the rising fuel prices. For example, truck drivers queue at various cement factories to wait for the little cement available. To recover the costs, many people are passing on the price burden to the final consumer.
Many construction materials consumers and project owners have been left contemplating whether to continue with their projects or suspend them until the prices of building materials drop to affordable levels.
In Jinja city, a bag of cement has gone up to Shs 50,000 from Shs 46,000. Ssalongo Keima, a local builder, is now jobless because he has no work to do because the construction industry has slowed down.
“During my last project, the contractor stopped me from coming to work because he didn’t have enough money to buy building materials. Now life is hard for me,” he whined.
Keima argues that that there is a need for government to impose price control measures to protect consumers. A kilogram of roofing nails has gone higher by Shs 1,000 to Shs 8,000. Margret Ssekidde, a director at Seroma Hardware, says they have been forced to increase the cement prices due to its scarcity.
“If you buy cement at a wholesale price of Shs 36,000 a bag, you are forced to sell it at Shs 38,000 or Shs 40,000,” she says.
Considering the fuel factor, Ugandans continue to bear the burden of high prices despite assurance from the government that prices would stabilize. In most parts of the country, a trip of 1,000 mud bricks goes for Shs 240,000, up from Shs 200,000 a few months ago, while that of clay and soil bricks has almost doubled.
Habitat for Humanity Uganda, a local non-government organization that tracks the housing industry in the country, has some worrying numbers.
The latest data from the NGO notes: “Uganda’s housing situation is characterized by inadequate homes in terms of quality and quantity in both rural and urban areas. The housing deficit stands at 2.4 million housing units, out of which 210,000 units are in urban areas and 1.395 million units in rural areas. An estimated 900,000 units are substandard and in need of replacement or upgrading.”
According to the latest national budget framework paper, government has set a target of reducing the housing deficit by 20 per cent in the current financial year. It also said that it wants to “decrease the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums and informal settlements from 60 per cent to 40 per cent.”
However, despite the unrelenting problem of poor housing, government, according to ministry of Finance’s budget estimates, will only allocate Shs 37 billion to the housing development unit for the next four financial years. This resolve not to increase funding to the housing unit points to one thing: government is looking at private developers to fill that space.
Fortune Niwamanya, the chief engineer of Danmari Construction Company, said they are trying their best to fulfil their contractual obligation.
However, if the prices continue to rise, contractors will have to ask for an amendment to the contracts. He said that many of his clients have halted construction works because of the spike in materials.
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