Zeberced Group, a leading business conglomerate in Nigeria, has promised to provide decent homes in Abuja to reduce housing deficits in Nigeria.
The Managing Director of the company, Adil Aydin Kurt, disclosed this in an interview with journalists in Abuja, at the weekend during a facility tour of the company’s industrial park, housing estate, and quarry sites in various parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He said: “We are willing to do affordable houses for the low-income earners, which is our next project. We are here to add value. We can produce many thousand houses in a short period.
“But we are not going to do it alone. We have to engage with other stakeholders and some organizations to bring them in and then we can start. If you do affordable housing at an international level, it will reduce the cost.”
On the issue of housing, he expressed sadness over cases of building collapse.
According to him, several factors could be blamed for most of the avoidable tragedy but noted that most if not all could be traced to structural problems and the quality of materials used.
He said: “We are saddened by cases of building collapse; we are using quality materials which we used in putting together our precast houses. We’ve been building houses but technology is improving. The poor quality of structures is responsible for a lot of the building collapse. We have ready-mixed concrete with reinforcements that make ours different.
“Using the outdated system of pouring concrete sometimes makes it impossible for the harmony of the building materials to take place. We want to share our technology and experience with others but we want to start here in Abuja.”
On the industrial park, the group managing director said, the industrial park, when established, would create more direct jobs and revenue.
Kurt said the total amount estimated for the construction of the park was about $150m.
“As you know, we’re also into the mining sector and we want to diversify our operations into industrialization. As such, after the setting up, there’ll be 200 factories, free zones, railway stations, vocational training centres, and support services which will be a support project for Nigeria,” he stated.
He added: “The group wants to diversify operations to industrialization. The park is situated in Idu industrial zone and we’ve already started work, five factories are completed and we have commenced manufacturing. Directly as a group of companies, we want to establish at least 10 to 15 factories and we want to attract foreign investors to see the opportunity in Nigeria’’.
Kurt said all profits made from the industrial park would be reinvested in Nigeria.
He said, “There are huge potentials and opportunities for development in Nigeria. There is a huge opportunity for diversification; the opportunities here are second to none.
“Granite is a strong base to build in my country (Turkey), I used to go 100 metres deep to get this material but here it’s everywhere. If you look at it as just hills without adding value, you lose. What we are doing (here at the quarry) is adding value.”
Also speaking, the National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Comrade Chris Isiguzo, commended the company for believing in Nigeria and investing in it.
He noted that the quarry site alone employs over 600 Nigerians with several others engaged indirectly.
