Be relevant in FG infrastructure development agenda – Fashola tells Surveyors

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has called on members of the Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria to be relevant in the Federal Government infrastructure development agenda.
Fashola made the call on Thursday in Abuja at the 2018 Annual Assembly of the Registered Quantity Surveyors and the induction of newly registered members and practicing firms.
The minister, who was represented by Alhaji Ibrahim Tumsah, Acting Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, said the board had responsibility in addressing infrastructure deficit in the country.
He urged the board to come up with ideas that would assist the government to get value for money and partner with anti-corruption agencies to reduce high cost of projects resulting from corrupt practices.
Fashola said Federal Government was pleased with the activities of QSRBN, adding that the current reform in the professional conducts of quantity surveyors was in line with the anti-corruption agenda of the federal government.
He said: “I am happy to note that you are living up to expectations as a professional regulatory board; quest for knowledge and expansion of your frontiers should be regular activities of the board.
“Adherence to professional ethics is a challenge to professionalism in Nigeria, I urge you not to hesitate to blacklist any quantity surveyor found wanting in this regard.”
He said the activities of quacks was another challenge to professionalism in the country and called on the board to intensify efforts towards combating the activities of quacks in the profession.
He said: “Quacks do serious damage on an economy, they are not qualified and are not registered and so, do not subscribe to any professional ethics and code of conduct, hence their unscrupulous activities.”
The minister urged members of the board to be proactive and forget about their differences to reclaim their relevance in the building sector.
Fashola said: “From my experience as a public officer, I have seen you allowing your profession being taken over by other professionals and this is very sad.
“Project management, which used to be entirely under your purview, has been encroached upon by so many professions that I think you are more competent than.”
Murtala Aliyu, the President of QSRBN, said the board was reinforcing its instruments to enable it discharge its duties of accrediting of training institutions and monitoring of activities of quantity surveyors.
He said plans had been concluded by the board to review its registration criteria to ensure that it was in line with international benchmark.
He, therefore, called for suggestions and contributions from Quantity Surveyors and other stakeholders to achieve international best practice in the profession.