Safe Home Expo 2015 is scheduled to kick off on Friday at Bhrikuti Mandap Exhibition Hall with the aim of promoting earthquake resistant houses and providing a platform for housing companies and buyers searching for safe homes.

Organised by Synthesis Exhibition and Event, the three-day fair will contain 70 stalls showcasing reinforced cement concrete (RCC), prefab and steel structures. The event will also host stalls displaying paints, furniture, water purifiers and construction materials. Exhibitors from India and Bangladesh will also be participating in the expo.

Rakesh Mahato, managing director of Synthesis, said that the expo would benefit earthquake affected families and people planning to buy a new house. “Due to lack of proper knowledge about earthquake resistant homes, many people lost their lives and property in the recent earthquake, so the expo will play a very important role in building safe homes and a safe society,” he said, adding that the main focus would be on prefab houses.

Likewise, Krishna Bhakta Duwal, chief executive officer of Gorkha Eco Panels, the title sponsor of the event, said that people should concentrate on building safe homes to prevent huge losses during natural calamities. He also urged the government to promote Nepali industry producing components for building prefabricated houses. “Although the government has halved the import

duty on prefab materials to 15 percent from 30 percent, it doesn’t have any programme to support local industry. Gorkha Eco will be displaying calcium silicate expanded polystyrene cement-based panels at the expo.”

Similarly, Syrus Quamrul, chief operating officer of Eventales of Bangladesh, said, “We are lucky to be part of this event, and we hope that we can contribute a little bit to safe reconstruction and rebuilding.” The company will be bringing building materials for the expo.

Brian Planas, project manager of Miyamoto International, said, “The country has a huge engineering capacity to build safe buildings. But we need to bring the right technology. The expo will provide a platform to make a safe society by bringing together experts and buyers.”

The entrance fee for the expo is Rs25. The organiser expects 40,000 visitors to see the expo. “We have received 1,000 phone calls about the event, so we hope it will be a huge success,” said Mahato of Synthesis.

source: the kathmandu post,6 august 2015