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Engineers registration board should bite harder
2006-09-18 09:21:59
By Rayner Ngonji
The Engineers Registration Board last week deregistered about 24 engineers it deems to have performed below standard or lacking the relevant qualifications.
Along with the move it has revoked construction permits for 50 high-rise structures at the Kariakoo area in Dar es Salaam mostly related to a single contractor because of their lack of required equipment and proper materials used in construction projects.
The board’s chairman, Prof. Burton Mwamila said the move follows a fact finding exercise in relation to the engineers’ abilities.
He said it has been found during the exercise that the contractor did not have adequate equipment and materials to carry out the projects at a go.
At that junction, the chairman concluded, it was evident that he was unlikely to complete the projects according to the set standards.
The board was set up in 1997 to oversee that operations by engineers corresponded with the country’s policies and laid down professional ethics.
Established under the Engineers Registration Act, No. 15 of 1997 ERB is a statutory body with the responsibility of monitoring and regulating engineering activities and the conduct of engineers and engineering consulting firms in Tanzania through registration of engineers and engineering consulting firms.
Under the law, it is illegal for an engineer or an engineering firm to practise the profession if not registered with the board.
The board has also been given legal powers and has the obligation to withdraw the right to practise from registered engineers if found guilty of professional misconduct or professional incompetence.
Registration with the board is, thus, a licence to practise engineering in Tanzania.
Engineering is among noble professions that have the privilege and responsibility of self regulation.
The board has worked out a code of ethics which aims at regulating engineering activities as well as the conduct of engineers and engineering consulting firms.
The code thus forms the nucleus and framework for responsible professional practice as it prescribes standards of conduct to be observed by engineers and engineering consulting firms.
The code is based on broad tenets of truth, honesty and trustworthiness, respect for human life and welfare, fairness, openness, competence and accountability.
Its other elements are engineering excellence, protection of the environment and sustainable development.
Hundreds of companies and engineers have been deregistered so far since the board took office in 1997. Whether that has produced tangible results in relation to the conduct of the professionals, has not been the subject of publicized evaluation.
However, in one way or the other, the exercise has been doing a good job over the years in disciplining engineers producing an unacceptable image of the profession.
But the board could register further successes if certain regulations and advice tendered to the board are put to use. These include interventions at the right time when implementation of projects is going wrong.
For example if poor workmanship is noticed right from early stages of a project, developers should be suspended immediately.
Such moves could greatly help control forseeable incidents like the Chang’ombe village drama that claimed one life when a four-storey building collapsed.
The other way is to conduct frequent inspections on different construction projects to timely detect any anomaly and take appropriate action.
Nevertheless, Prof. Mwamila notes that sometimes poor workmanship in some of the projects is brought about by inadequate funding from the developer. When such situation arises, the contractor is forced to work with the materials available no matter what the effect would be.
He says the attitude is common amongst government projects where contractors are told to do whatever they could to make sure that projects are completed with the meagre funds that have been supplied.
In business, the issue of honouring contracts needs to be given priority by all concerned parties to ensure that the service is satisfactory. Good workmanship in the construction sector not only guarantees efficiency but also promotes the profession.
The board, therefore, is obliged to see that implementation of construction projects goes smoothly for the benefit of all parties.
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