Engineers advised to exhibit high standards to ensure quality delivery

Engineers have been advised to exhibit high professional standards in the performance of their duties to ensure quality services.

The President of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Ghana (IET), Eng. Eric Atta-Sonno, said the poor outcomes of some construction projects contributed to loss of integrity in engineers.

“The collapse of buildings under construction, rampant market fires, poor deterioration of roads soon after construction and perennial floods, among other shortfalls, make the inefficiencies of our profession so obvious and indict the entire body of practitioners in the country,” Mr Atta-Sonno said.

Induction

He gave the advice at the induction of 226 engineers with diverse specialisations into the institution in Accra.

Five other professional engineers who had made advances in their various fields of specialisation were also inducted as fellows of the IET.

Observations

Eng Atta-Sonno cited insufficient training, inadequate exposure for engineering practitioners and poor supervision of work as major lapses that affected the effective practice of engineering to national development.

He cautioned engineers against prioritising profit over service, a situation he noted, could have negative consequences on development.

“You must participate in honest enterprises in accordance with high standards of professionalism. The professional knowledge and skills that you have acquired must be dedicated to the advancement and betterment of human welfare,” the president stated.

Award of contracts

Eng. Atta-Sonno further expressed worry over the culture of foreign engineers winning local contracts and urged practitioners in the industry to work towards reversing the trend.

According to him, although engineers in the country did not lack the required expertise, the lack of resources made them incapable of bidding for bigger projects.

“Sometimes contracts are awarded by foreign donors and they decide the contractor to work with. That is quite understandable. But we must also work hard and broaden our capacities,” he said.

For his part, the Registrar at the IET, Eng. Wise Ametepey, urged all the inductees to embrace innovation as a complement to their skills to make them relevance at all times.

“Technology keeps evolving and consumers will always prefer the new thing over the old. It is therefore important that you learn beyond what you already know and be innovative in your service delivery,” he said.