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"id": 19206,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/19206/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "The Minister of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 (",
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"content": "Mr. Oparanya): Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this chance to contribute to this very important Bill. On the outset, I want to congratulate the Minister for bringing this very important Bill. This Bill is overdue and I hope its operationalization will correct the chaos in the construction industry. We have been hearing of collapsing storeyed buildings where you expect structural engineers to have been involved. We have had very poorly constructed roads and you will find that any public road that is constructed, engineers from the Ministry of Public Works are involved. I hope that the measures that have been brought up in the Bill will correct the mess that we have had. As a Minister in charge of Planning, the role of engineers is very important especially in the implementation of Vision 2030. In our current Visio 2030, especially the Medium-Term Plan for 2008 to 2012, we have identified 194 crucial flagship projects that we need to implement for this country to attain a faster economic growth. All these projects will require the involvement of engineers. So, the role of engineers is very important in our attainment of the Vision 2030. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when the Assistant Minister was moving the Bill, he said that the Government spends about 20 per cent of the Budget on infrastructure development. He mentioned energy, water, roads, sports, irrigation and airports. The correct figure is actually 30 per cent. Our plans are that in the next Medium-Term Plan which we are now planning from 2012 to 2017, we want 40 per cent of the Budget to go towards infrastructure development if this country has to move faster for the attainment of the ideals in the Vision 2030. For us to attain the Vision 2030, infrastructure is important. In fact, in the Vision 2030, we say that infrastructure is the foundation which underpins the achievement of the Vision 2030. The role of engineers is quite important. Having said that, there are few issues in the Bill which I thought I should point out. I am not an engineer, but an accountant. In the definition of engineers, we are talking of consulting engineers, graduate engineers and professional engineers. It will be very difficult if you are a layman to identify these engineers. I thought it would have been useful just to have one definition of an engineer and say that an engineer is of such and such qualifications. You should just say that an engineer is defined as such or registered as such, instead of having professional, graduate and consulting engineers. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other area which I saw points out that even diploma holders will be registered as graduate engineers. I find that interesting because when you talk of a graduate, I thought that you are talking of someone who has a degree and not just someone who has a diploma. If you look at Clause 18, it says that: “For someone to be registered as a graduate engineer, he must be a holder of a degree or a diploma, or its equivalent”. What is this equivalent? Who is this having an equivalent qualification who has to be registered as an engineer? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, another issue that I noted in the Bill is the size of the Board. The Board will have about six members from the Government and eight members from the private sector or from organizations related to engineering services. I find that particular Board quite big. For a board to be effective in corporate governance, in fact, nowadays, it is advisable for it to have between nine and 11 members. That is according to good corporate governance. The other thing that I wanted to point out in the Bill is that amongst the functions of the Board is to conduct professional examinations. I would have felt that that function of conducting examinations, as we do in the accountancy profession--- In the accountancy profession, there is a registration board like the board that we are creating here, and then there is a separate entity called KASNEB, which conducts the professional examinations. Within the board, there is also provision for disciplinary action. Provision for disciplinary action is already provided for in this Bill; but I would recommend that when the amendments come - my good colleague, hon. Gumbo, is here and is hearing me – for good corporate governance, we should set up a separate board for purposes of conducting professional examinations, so that the Board has only the powers to register, discipline, so that issues of examinations are completely separated from it. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other issue that I have noted is the appointment of the registrar. Within the Bill, it is recommended that the Minister will appoint the registrar. I think this practice of Ministers appointing such persons is now being overtaken by events in view of the provisions of the new Constitution. I think what is important is that the Minister’s role should be limited to just gazetting whoever is appointed as a registrar. The recruitment process, which must be competitive, should be left to the Board. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there was also another issue but I cannot find it. The issue I support in the Bill is that there should be a school of engineers. That is very important in view of the new innovations that are coming up like computerization. This particular Bill has taken about 42 years to come here. So, in view of that, I thank the Minister for thinking that there must be a school of engineers to make them understand the new changes that are evolving as we develop as a country. There is one issue that I also want to commend on; the control of fees which is to be charged. As the Minister in charge of the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF), I have found out that sometimes when we want services from private engineers, the consultancy fees can be very prohibitive. Therefore, their involvement in some of the CDF projects has been minimal. For us to come up with good structures, it is very important that engineers are involved. So, the issue of fees is important. There must be control to ensure that the fees is affordable. With those few remarks, I support."
}