FG To Pay Great Attention To Roads, Power, Housing – Fashola
SAN FRANCISCO, December 11, (THEWILL) – The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, has disclosed that the Muhammadu Buhari-led government will, in the coming years, pay great attention and invest heavily in the nation's road infrastructure, power and housing.
The minister stated this yesterday during the opening ceremony of the 2015 induction for newly registered quantity surveyors and practising firms and the 4th annual professional clinic on risk management, organised by the Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria, QSRBN, in Abuja.
He assured that the three critical sectors would be prioritised as a result of their contributions to national economy due to their capacities to generate multiplier effects and employment on a large scale.
Fashola disclosed that the federal government would be counting on the support of registered Nigerian quantity surveyors and other professionals in the construction industry in its quest to deliver good governance to the people.
Represented by the Director, Survey Department in the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Dickson Onojah, he called on quantity surveys to bring their expertise as construction cost managers to bear on the costing of projects in order to achieve value for money and cost efficiency in the implementation of projects in both the public and private sectors of the economy.
His words, “I am delighted to be playing a part in today's induction ceremony for a group of professionals like registered quantity surveyors, who are key players in the built environment, which is a strategic sector of our economy.
“Here, we are talking about infrastructure such as roads, housing and urban development, all of which come under the purview of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, which I have been charged with the responsibility of overseeing.
“It is one sector, which this government will give due attention to in view of its contributions to the national economic due to its capacity to generate multiplier effects and employment on a large scale.”
Fashola commend the QSRBN for “the good work you have done so far in the pursuit of your mandate not only in the regular registration and induction of eligible quantity surveyors, but also in the area of professional development as well as accreditation of quantity surveying programmes in the universities and polytechnics.”
In his remarks, the QSRBN President, Mallam Hussaini Dikko, stated that 317 newly registered quantity surveyors and 34 practising firms of quantity surveyors were inducted, bringing the total number of registered quantity surveyors and practising firms in the register of the board to 2,777 and 236 respectively.
He warned that the board would clamp down heavily on any registered quantity surveyor that engaged in sharp practices.
“In this regard, registered quantity surveyors must queue behind President Muhammadu Buhari in his anti-corruption crusade. Quantity surveyors have a key role to play in fighting corruption in the building and engineering industry,” Dikko said.