Testing construction material will boost quality, curb infrastructure failure —Regulatory bodies
By Angela Atabo
Relevant regulatory bodies say the move by the Federal Government to begin testing construction material will boost quality and curb infrastructure failure.
The regulatory bodies are Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON) and the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE).
They said this when they paid a working visit to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, in Abuja.
The COREN President, Prof. Sadiq Abubakar, said that the move is aimed at ensuring that construction material using in Nigeria meet international standards, thereby reducing the risk of infrastructure failure and collapse.
“We paid a working visit to the minister and the content of the discussion centred on the initiative of the minister under the ministry to upgrade and equip engineering testing laboratories for construction of infrastructures.
“One of our major challenges as a nation is incessant building collapse; failures of roads, failures of bridges, dams of all critical infrastructures that we have been having.
“One of the ways to stem and tackle this in the most systemic way is to focus on the material that are being used in the construction; the regulators are very excited and went to express their support on this initiative the minister is pursuing.”
Abubakar said the bodies expressed support to providing technical, professional and all support needed to ensure that the initiative takes off.
He added that the professional bodies also discussed the issue of the national skill qualification framework, a new initiative in the country to train, certify, register and regulate artisans involved in the construction industry.
“The ministry is involved in training artisans in various aspects of engineering across the sectors, not only construction, but in oil and gas, in power and energy, in mining, in telecommunication, in agro-allied, among others.
He said that COREN and CORBON, as regulatory bodies handling the sector skill council on construction and engineering, agreed to support the ministry to ensure accreditation of the training centres.
The President said after being certified after the training, the artisans would be registered and regulated by COREN and CORBON.
According to him, COREN seizes the opportunity to invite the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology to its 33rd Assembly happening in July.
“Overall, the courtesy visit opened new areas for collaboration between the regulatory bodies, with the minister and key agencies, so I believe engineering and regulatory aspect would be improved openly,” he said.
Also speaking, the Chairman of CORBON, Samson Opaluwah, said the main purpose of the visit was to demonstrate the endorsement of the Renewed Hope Agenda Trust in the intervention in material testing.
Opaluwah said the minister was intimated on a number of initiatives on ground to end building collapse in the country.
“The meeting with the minister is the first of a kind, as major actors in building and construction industry came together as a sector to meet and pledge their availability to support government initiative.
“We are aware of the ingress of technology and innovation and we believe that Nigeria must not be left behind.
“So, we want to collaborate with the ministry to ensure the innovation of new methods, local methods that can address our peculiar challenges as a nation.” (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Deji Abdulwahab
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