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{
    "id": 585151,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/585151/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 136,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Melly",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 12849,
        "legal_name": "Julius Kipbiwot Melly",
        "slug": "julius-kipbiwot-melly"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this Bill after Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo. When you look at the engineering profession, Sessional Paper No.12 of 2012 divides the field into engineering, engineering technologists, technicians and operators. As a progressive nation, we are supposed to have Bills that are going to move the nation forward. We are not going to have Bills and Acts that are going to protect toughs; what engineers are doing currently. If you look at progressive nations that have developed in terms of technology such as the South East Asia nations, most of them have regulated the engineers’ technology. We are not disputing, engaging or going to the field of the engineers. The engineers are the dreamers and the designers, the technologists are the implementers and the technicians are the maintainers. If you look at our country today, we have emerging fields in science and technology. When you look at the field of Computer Science, we have computer engineering, aviation engineering, energy engineering and many others. This Bill is going to ensure that these new fields are catered for. We have instances where constructions have been done in this country. New high-rise buildings come up and collapse. Whenever you go to the field to find out who is to blame, you find that the engineer did his work very well. He did the measurements, the design and everything, but the technologists, the implementers or the person on the spot has not done his work yet he is not regulated. As I speak, we have over 20,000 engineering technologists who are not registered in this country. They are not regulated and so, they cannot be disciplined. They cannot be taken into account. Who is going to do this if we have no law to ensure that they are regulated and are responsible for their deeds? Every time we hear the urban authorities saying that they want to see the engineer who did the design. On the ground, we have individuals who have done the mess, but they will always hide at the back of the engineer. If our economy is to thrive, we must include individuals from the emerging fields. We have a good number of technologists. Other professions, for instance, the medical profession, the doctors and the nurses are being regulated. What is very special with the engineers’ profession? They have only recognised the traditional areas like the Civil and Mechanical Engineering. I also want to point out that this Bill is going to ensure that the health and safety standards are put in place and catered for. In developed countries, we have international accords that recognise technologists and technicians. We have the Washington Accord, the Sydney Accord and the Dublin Accord. These people have been recognised in other parts of the world. We cannot be an exception. We cannot fail to look at what others have done and have done it well. I support the Bill. It is very important and it is going to stabilise the unrest that we have in the universities today. Some of the problems that we have in our universities today and our graduates are not being recognised is because we lack a regulator."
}