Accra, Feb 22, GNA- The Ghana Institution of Surveyors (GhIS) has reiterated its call for government to speed up the passage of the Surveying Council Bill into law to regulate surveying practice in the country and sanitise the sector.
The bill, which is currently before the Attorney General, is yet to make any appearance in Parliament since it was initiated about three decades ago.
Speaking at a media launch of the Institution’s 17th Surveyors’ Week celebration and the 53rd Annual General Meeting (AGM), in Accra, Dr John Amaglo, President of the GhIS, said the “undue delay” in passing the bill into law was making it difficult for the Institution to regulate the sector.
He explained that many people had joined the business despite not being registered members with the Institution and as a result were engaging in malpractices that contravened the policies of the Institution and downgrading the surveying standards and profession in the country.
Dr Amaglo noted that passing the bill into law would ensure that all surveyors registered with the Institution and certified to practice.
“Once you don’t have any legal backing, you will realise that a lot of people are parading themselves around as surveyors and giving substandard work to the public because there is no sanction regime, you cannot punish anybody. That gap has created a situation where even foreigners come into the country and practice, influx of companies practicing surveying.
“But if you have a legal backing like the Surveying Council, you must be registered and certified and the council will be able to make sure that the standards are respected,” he said.
The media launch marked the commencement of the 17th Surveyors’ Week and 53rd AGM of the Institution, under the theme: “Emerging Global Technologies: Implications for the Surveying Practice in Ghana.”
The 2022 Surveyors’ Week aims at providing professionals and organisations with the opportunity to step back, evaluate and discuss various revolutionary changes that digitalization had brought, as well as the impact of the practice of surveying on the country.
Activities earmarked for the week-long celebration include the orientation of newly qualified members, elevation of members onto Class of Fellows, induction of newly qualified members and investiture of new President.
Dr Amaglo said the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted every sector of the Ghanaian economy, including the surveying sector.
He said, it had, therefore, become imperative that surveyors abreast themselves of emerging global technologies if they were to enhance service delivery in the profession.
He said surveying practice in Ghana involved understanding crisis management and responding to them to protect the workforce, adding that there was the need to maintain work continuity and make communications more effective to encourage remote working to deliver value to clients.
“The initial training and unique qualities of the surveyor are no longer the only preconditions for the practice of surveying. Therefore, the earlier the professional surveyor realises that it is no longer business as usual and interrogates how to exploit these innovations due to emerging global technologies, the better,” Dr Amaglo said.
While commending government for its support to the Institution, he urged it to ensure that non-surveyors did not provide technical advice on land and land administration issues, as well as ensure that only professional quantity surveyors prepared and monitored all project budgets in the country, to sanitise the profession.
GNA