The Minister for Works, Housing and Water Resources, Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, has announced a strict government stance against substandard engineering practices, warning that the era of poor supervision, fake materials, and unlicensed practitioners is over.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Technical Committees of the Engineering Council of Ghana in Accra on Friday, the Minister said the government will not tolerate practices that endanger lives and undermine public trust in infrastructure projects.
He emphasized that all practitioners and firms in the sector must be duly licensed, stressing that “zero tolerance for substandard materials, a ban on engaging unlicensed practitioners and firms, and an end to poor supervision of engineering works” are now non-negotiable directives.
To translate these directives into action, the Minister inaugurated six Technical Committees of the Engineering Council. They include:
*Disciplinary, Legal and Ethics Committee
*Education and Training Committee
*Finance and Administration Committee
*Licensing and Registration Committee
*Public and International Affairs Committee
*Standards and Professional Practice Committee
Mr. Adjei said the committees would be central to enforcing discipline, strengthening regulation, and setting new benchmarks for the profession.
The announcement comes against the backdrop of frequent engineering failures in the country, including collapsed buildings, faulty bridges, and water system breakdowns. In recent years, incidents such as the collapse of multi-storey buildings in Accra and Kumasi have sparked public outrage over weak supervision, poor standards, and the use of inferior materials in construction.
Describing such failures as “a stain on Ghana’s development effort,” the Minister said they not only waste scarce resources but also erode public trust in infrastructure projects.
“The public demands safety and quality, and I expect these committees to become functional immediately,” he warned, adding that any hint of bias or corruption in their work would be dealt with severely.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
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