The organizers of the National Contractors Excellence Awards are encouraging increased regional participation in the second edition of the event. The Awards scheme was instituted to give Ghanaian contractors the opportunity to showcase their works, promote excellence and discourage substandard works in the construction sector. The Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors Ghana (ABCECG) launched the second edition on Thursday, following the success of the maiden edition. Technical Committee Chairman, Rockson Dogbegah told Luv Biz there is a deliberate drive to make the awards regionally competitive. “The event is not only limited to the national level but it is supposed to come from all corners of Ghana. So if you’re a contractor and you’re even at Bolga or Wa or anywhere in Ghana, the remotest place [and0 you think that you have done some work which needs to be showcased, it is about time you get interested in this event”, he entreated. The scope of this year's award, slated for September, is being expanded to include Road Contractors to compete for the coveted awards. JESCAN Construction Limited emerged the Overall Best Contractor last year and took home a Pick-Up truck. In a related development, the Association has enjoined the management of Pozzolana Ghana Limited to step up marketing of the pozzolana cement product to make it attractive to the construction industry. The company wants increased patronage of the locally manufactured pozzolana cement, which is a result of 30 years of extensive research by the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Used with other clinker cement to boost the quality of the final products, Pozzolana is relatively affordable, and government has a policy for building contractors to patronize locally manufactured raw materials like Pozzolana cement to reduce the cost of construction. Managing Director of Pozzolana Ghana Limited, Vivek Garg, at a forum in Takoradi said the company has targeted to capture 10 percent of the local market share of cement in the next five years. But Mr. Dogbegah says it behooves on the management of Pozzolana to make the product attractive to contractors whilst taking advantage of the challenges in the supply of clinker cement to increase use the pozzolana.