TIB lauds govt move to use eco-friendly construction blocks

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has appreciated the government’s declaration of producing eco-friendly blocks and its use in public projects.

TIB in a statement demanded effective implementation of the declaration, and urged steps to make the use of such blocks in private sector mandatory as well.

The government has made the use of eco-friendly blocks in public construction must from this fiscal, in a move to cut reliance on bricks in building structures, walls and roads.

State-run agencies will use blocks made of sand, cement fly ash or materials other than clay, to build and repair walls, herringbone bond road, and rural passages instead of bricks -- which use valuable topsoil as raw material.

Agencies will have to use 10 percent blocks in the current fiscal and 20 percent the following year, said a notification of the ministry of environment on November 24.

TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman termed the decision encouraging, but said the results will depend on its implementation. He urged concerted efforts to shut down all conventional brick kilns to protect the environment.