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Showing posts from March, 2009

Brazil to Spend $15.1 Bln on Anti-Crisis Housing Plan (Update2) - Bloomberg.com

Brazil to Spend $15.1 Bln on Anti-Crisis Housing Plan (Update2) - Bloomberg.com Brazil to Spend $15.1 Bln on Anti-Crisis Housing Plan By Andre Soliani and Joshua Goodman March 25 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil will spend 34 billion reais ($15.1 billion) to build a million homes for low-income workers as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva seeks to spark growth in a slumping economy. Finance Minister Guido Mantega said the homebuilding drive, which depends on government-subsidized credit lines, would inject 60 billion reais into the economy and increase economic growth by 2 percentage points. The plan would also create 1.5 million new jobs, he said. Lula is trying to spark economic growth and boost employment as companies cut output to weather the first global recession since World War II. Brazil’s economy, Latin America’s biggest, may contract by the most in at least 61 years, Morgan Stanley said in a March 16 report. “This is an emergency response, on the one hand to the global economic crisis

The Times - You can build a house in a day

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The Times - You can build a house in a day Government shows no interest in innovative and cheap solution for SA’s millions of homeless. His first attempt at building a boundary wall ended up as a duck pond. Two decades on, Hennie Botes has perfected his building technology and is now exporting houses that can be built in a day. The Port Elizabeth-based entrepreneur spent many late nights during the 1980s experimenting with moulds, cement and water and his perseverance has paid off. Today he exports his housing units consisting of plastic moulds and mortar to 16 countries around the world. “Close to 95% of our production to date has been for exporting, but that is changing,” said Botes. He said he has yet to persuade the government to use his invention for its RDP housing programme, because there was still some reluctance in South Africa to deviate from conventional bricks and mortar structures. The simple design requires minimal skill and has earned him several awards, including the SA

News - Eastern Cape: Defective RDP houses to be repaired

News - Eastern Cape: Defective RDP houses to be repaired Johannesburg - About R100 million is to be spent on repairing over a thousand defective RDP houses, the Eastern Cape housing department said on Tuesday. Spokesman Lwandile Sicwetsha said work had resumed on fixing the defective houses in the Alfred Nzo and OR Tambo district municipalities, which were built after 1994. Construction was stopped in 2000 as a result of poor workmanship, and non-availability of services. "The rectification of these housing projects costs over a hundred million rand," Sicwetsha said. Budget He said the money came from the R552 million remaining in the department's budget for flagship projects, current running projects and new projects. The remaining money was also to be spent on land acquisition, emergency housing and rectification. "A new contractor is already working on site fixing the defective houses and rebuilding completely damaged structures in Mount Alyiff, Mount Frere and Fl

Industrialized Building Systems for Housing - The MIT Press

Industrialized Building Systems for Housing - The MIT Press The editors of this informative volume assert that "The United States today—at a time when more housing is needed than ever—does not exploit existing building technologies to the fullest. The tools are available, but the constraints are an obstacle. The latter can only be overcome by a determined, concerted effort by all elements of the building industry." The increasing importance of industrialized building, as the demand for housing accelerates and outstrips the capacity of traditional construction methods to provide it, is highlighted by this book, whose very publication should give new impetus to the indus- trialized building trend. Based on two special summer programs held at M.I.T., it contains contributions from experts in areas ranging from urban politics to systems analysis and materials technology. It offers a strict examination of the underlying principles involved in industrialization and the types of bui

Government considers paying low cost home developers

Government considers paying low cost home developers Government considers paying low cost home developers KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — The Housing and Local Government Ministry is mulling over giving subsidy to housing developers to enable them to built better quality and affordable homes in prime locations. Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan said the move was to assist the housing industry to sustain growth amid the global economic slowdown, and also as part of the government’s obligation to provide quality homes for the people. “This is a ‘win-win situation’ and our ultimate intention is to keep the industry active,” he told reporters after opening the Klang Valley Mapex 2009 property exhibition here today. Ong said he had discussed the plan with the treasury and was awaiting cabinet approval. The government would also subsidise developers who were willing to build more spacious low cost homes in strategic location and provide the area with better amenities. Currently the price of a basic 6

Latin American Herald Tribune - Mexico to Create Two Million Temporary Construction Jobs

Latin American Herald Tribune - Mexico to Create Two Million Temporary Construction Jobs Mexico to Create Two Million Temporary Construction Jobs MEXICO CITY – House construction promoted by the Mexican government will create 2½ million temporary jobs this year, President Felipe Calderon said at the signing of the National Housing Pact. The chief executive said that, despite the world economic downturn, the pace of housing construction would be maintained to insure “income for millions of families.” A total of 800,000 houses will be built or remodeled this year. The budget allocated for financing the purchase of public housing will reach 180 billion pesos ($12 billion) through different organizations. “The world situation will not be an obstacle,” Calderon said Friday about Mexican families’ wish to become homeowners. Special attention will also be paid to those with little money. Housing loans will be available for amounts less than 300,000 pesos (some $20,000). Calderon said that fin

New housing technology introduced in Ghana : Ghana Business News

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New housing technology introduced in Ghana : Ghana Business News : New housing technology introduced in Ghana   Are the inefficiencies of the brick and mortar construction process making homes unaffordable for most? Link --------------------------------------------------------- The cost of housing is set to come down by about half the present cost with the intro­duction of a new technology into the Ghanaian market. The Moladi housing tech­nology developed in South Africa about 22 years ago, uses ordinary cement and sand with an additive, Moladi Chem, which reduces the den­sity of the mortar by creating air bubbles that make it with­stand fire, earthquake, cyclone and tsunami. The inventor of the technol­ogy, Mr Hennie Botes, told journalists at a demonstration of the technology that the con­cept had been proven and test­ed as having greater advantage over the traditional mortar and brick buildings. He said the technology, which ensured that a house was started and com

Daily Guide Ghana - Affordable housing units for Ghana

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Daily Guide Ghana - Affordable housing units for Ghana In most cities in Ghana, low-income earners cannot afford good quality housing. They either rent usually in poor quality overcrowded dwellings or build in illegal settlements. They cannot get conventional housing finance because their homes are in illegal settlements and they lack the income or formal documentation that housing finance agencies require. In order to address this problem and provide affordable housing units for Ghanaians, Moladi, an international low cost housing construction company based in South Africa is gearing up to launch an affordable housing unit in Ghana. The company has successfully built housing units using the moladi plastic construction concrete framework for over two decades. The company which arrived in the country last week said it has already conducted a number of feasibility studies on the country’s housing sector. The company has developed a technology for producing low cost housing, mainly intend

Affordable housing units for Ghana - modernghana.com/general news

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Affordable housing units for Ghana - modernghana.com/general news Mr Botes - MD of Moladi In most cities in Ghana, low-income earners cannot afford good quality housing. They either rent usually in poor quality overcrowded dwellings or build in illegal settlements. They cannot get conventional housing finance because their homes are in illegal settlements and they lack the income or formal documentation that housing finance agencies require. In order to address this problem and provide affordable housing units for Ghanaians, Moladi, an international low cost housing construction company based in South Africa is gearing up to launch an affordable housing unit in Ghana. The company has successfully built housing units using the moladi plastic construction concrete framework for over two decades. The company which arrived in the country last week said it has already conducted a number of feasibility studies on the country's housing sector. The company has developed a technology for pr

Corrupt South Africa

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Corrupt South Africa!!!!!!!! A dog bite dog world - bite or get bitten? Better to bite!

For more on moladi

What is the cost to 3D print a house?

LOW COST HOUSING design concept

Emailing: allAfrica.com Angola President Dos Santos Confident About Sustainable Development (Page 1 of 1)