CAIRO: The Ministry of Trade and Industry has imposed a ban on the use of plastic alternatives for steel rebars in construction activities, as home builders ignored warns on the perils of using plastic reinforcement in construction.
In a statement Wednesday, the Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid said that the government abolished the patent and commercial records of the plastic bars as builders used them as alternatives to steel rebars in construction.
Egyptians have begun to use plastic bars in building activities in the rural and remote areas, where supervision and regulation is weakest.
Mohammad Aglan, head of Construction Committee at the Egyptian Young Businessmen Association, said skyrocketing prices of building materials, particularly steel rebar prices, contributed to growing use of plastic bars despite their perils. He pointed out that scientific research confirmed that strength of plastic bars was only 5 percent of steel rebars.
Prices of steel rebars jumped in the Egyptian market to more than LE 3,700 per ton over the recent months.
Hisham Ragab, assistant minister of trade for legal affairs, has blamed the patent holder of plastic bars for misusing the industrial patent certificate by claiming that the certificate allowed him to use plastic bars as alternatives to steel in construction.
Meanwhile, a senior official at the Consumer Protection Agency said that the agency would launch an awareness campaign calling on citizens to stop using plastic bars as dangerous alternatives for steel in home-building.
