Many buildings and infrastructure may collapse due to the use of non-compliant cement

The General Command of the National Gendarmerie (an Algerian army elite and suburban investigative police) has decided to seize the housing ministry right after an investigation in the case of non-compliant cement tat was commercialized in the last few years. The concrete served in building housing unites and detached houses in Algiers capital’s neighborhoods of Draria, S’haoula and Bir Touta. The cement could cause houses collapse according to the same sources.

For the National Gendarmerie, this is a real catastrophe as whole brand new housing units; villas and public infrastructure were built with the cement in question. The cement was sold to construction companies in charge of building the projects destined to the neighborhoods above quoted.      

The details of the investigation conducted by the Chlef Gendarmerie’s captain Youssef Boukeloua say the very first steps of the investigation took place when a lorry loaded with counterfeited cement bags intercepted in the province. The bags were branded with well-known trade marks including ‘’ECDE’’ and ‘’ECDT’’.  The investigation also found the same bags sold in the provinces of Blida, Tipasa and Algiers.        

The investigation also led the Gendarmerie team in charge of the file ambushed the criminals by playing the role of a client ordering 20 tons of cement for a big construction project in Boufarik town. During the finalisation of the transaction, the Gendarmerie seized 40 tons of non-compliant cement and 8 individuals who are part of a group of criminals who are flooding the market with this dangerous material.       

The investigation also revealed the presence of three workshops aimed at producing non-compliant cement in the locality of Meftah, 35 km south of Algiers. 2000 bags of cement were seized in Meftah. The bags carried several brands of cement producers belonging to the public sector.   

The cement bags contained 43 kg instead of 50 kg in addition to its mixture with gypsum. The concentration of the mix was also a ‘’32-5’’ instead of the ‘’42-5’’ normal concentration. The cement is bought by the criminals in Orascom’s cement plant of Mascara (350 km west of Algiers), the Orascom cement which is normally a 43 kg bag is then filled in 50 kg bags taken from Chlef state-owned cement plant. The bags are then worked out in Meftah and sold to the construction companies quoted above.