Excellence in construction industry honoured

Twenty-one deserving Individuals have been recognised and honoured at the maiden Construction Excellence Awards organised by the Ghana Institute of Construction.

Awards and accompanying citations were bestowed on dedicated, hardworking and committed construction engineers who have excelled in the industry for the past 20 years, at a lively ball held at the Alisa Hotel in Accra.

Speaking on the theme: “Tighter controls on physical Development in Ghana: The Role of Construction Professionals,” The Minister for Roads and Highways Alhaji Inusah Fuseini said the role of construction professionals in the physical development agenda of the country cannot be underestimated. It is therefore important to build the capacity of professionals in the Industry and also tighten respective institutions in order to control the operations of uncertified contractors.

He said the need for appropriate technology use, professional capacity standards, environmental and time considerations among others, require professionals, key stakeholders and institutions to collaborative efforts as a necessity to achieve excellent infrastructure delivery.

According Alhaji Inusah Fuseini the Ministry of Roads and Highways is taking steps to strengthen its collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and other key stakeholders to reduce the adverse impact of construction mishaps on the development of the country.

To ensure sustainability of infrastructure in the country, he said developers need to design and execute infrastructure taking cognizance of the environment and its accompanying climatic conditions.

He explained that designs need to be done according to approved standards and competent professionals with the appropriate professional license must sign-off on the designs. Such designs must also be subject to peer review and public scrutiny.

Alhaji Inusah Fuseini said the Ministry of Roads and Highways and the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing are collaborating with other key stakeholders in the road sector to commence training of artisans and heavy equipment operators for the sector.

“Such training will constitute part of the minimum requirements for certification of firms and their personnel in the road sector. Indeed, this level of training and minimum competency requirement must be extended to all other areas of the construction industry," he noted.

He commended the Ghana Institute of Construction for championing the cause of the construction industry and highlighting the critical role of the industry in the economic development of the country.

According to the minister, both the public and private sectors which forms the foundation for the growth of the economy, bear responsibility for the supervision and quality control in the delivery of infrastructure.

President of the Ghana Institute of Construction, Professor Joshua Ayarkwa, said celebrating excellence is a purposeful way of looking into the future to deliver a world-class construction industry in the country.

He said the Ghanaian construction industry has been in the news for all the wrong reasons and believes the reorganisation of the association is a commitment that will change the face of the industry which is plagued with unprofessionalism.

He said the association’s proven track record of excellence will revive and bring hope to the construction industry.

Mr Agyemang Mensah, Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing acknowledged the Ghana Institute of Construction, not only for its contribution towards the welfare and development of infrastructure in the country but also for the intellectual development of its members which he said has contributed significantly to the growth of the economy.

According to Mr Agyemang Mensah, the current national discourse aimed at finding lasting solutions to some of the challenges facing the construction industry especially the collapse of buildings needs to be addressed by construction professional bodies like the Ghana Institute of Construction.

He said the construction industry is a great source of employment to both skilled and unskilled labour which indirectly feeds other sectors of the economy such as schools, hospitals, housing, office accommodation and factories among others.

Mr Agyemang Mensah said architects, engineers, surveyors, building technologists and artisans must play an active role in eliminating charlatans and bringing about sanity and growth in the industry by adhering to good professional practices such as compliance with the building codes standards and regulations.

He urged the association to position itself to partner government to provide sound engineering guidance on design, supervision, construction, fabrication and maintenance of engineering infrastructure within the country and take up the challenge to offer short training programmes on relevant topics to upgrade the knowledge of its members from time-to-time.

Mr Agyemang Mensah said the Ministry is ready to work closely with executives of the association in the formulation of policies and programmes for the advancement of the construction sector.