Minister asks GHIE to decentralize to districts

Mr Moses Bukari Mabengba, Caretaker Minister for the Northern Region has appealed to the Ghana Institution of Engineers (GHIE) to decentralize its operations to the districts to ensure efficiency.

He said this would ensure that the best engineering advice was given to ensure that structures built at the districts conformed to the best international standards to prevent calamities such as the MELCOM Disaster recorded later last year in Accra.

Mr Mabengba said this when a five-member delegation of the GHIE led by its President, Ing.Professor Samuel Ampadu, called on him at his office in Tamale on Thursday.

The delegation is in the region for two days as part of activities planned for the 2012/2013 GHIE Council year, and will sensitize stakeholders on industrial safety which in recent times has become a subject of public concern.

Mr Mabengba said there were a lot of activities in terms of construction of various structures going on at the district levels but qualified engineers were not available to offer the best advice as to how such structures should be constructed.

He said engineering was core to the development of every society and pledged his office’s preparedness to partner with the members of the GHIE to ensure development.

Ing. Prof Ampadu, who is also the Provost of the College of Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, impressed on authorities to consult and, or engage engineers on issues about the sector for effective execution of projects.

He said this would also ensure professionalism in the sector to enable the people to derive value for money in terms of construction of quality structures.