Engineers warned about safety, efficiency and quality - at third conference
The third Engineering Conference, an annual feature of the Public Works Ministry opened today with the aims of reviewing and providing Guyanese engineers, both stalwarts and up-and-coming with the knowledge and guidance to correct major issues of concerns in the industry, and to introduce new technologies to the engineers.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn both delivered opening remarks at the conference held at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds making a point at the 3rd
Engineering Conference held at the GICC which focused
on improving Guyana’s infrastructure for the future
The Prime Minister called for taking stock of the execution of engineering work in this current dispensation. He examined how the calibre of engineers working for the government and the ministry has changed over the years.
He said that in the 1960s there was a great body of experience and engineers of caliber, but this changed during the 1980s and to about 1992, when there was a lot of outsourcing for experienced persons.
The Prime Minister said there is now a new era of development and that the time has come for the ministry to adapt a new comprehensive policy that it will execute using its own engineers.
The Prime Minister proposed that this new sufficiently comprehensive policy also entails “recognition of the cost that the ministry would have to incur in being a prime place for training, accumulating experience, for testing and developing new experience.”
Engineers at the Public Works 3rd Engineering Conference
Minister Benn said the theme of the conference “Improving Guyana’s Infrastructure for Future Generations” was apt as the work the engineers does in “building and developing Guyana can only assure a good future for coming generation.”
Minister Benn said that the annual conference itself is crucial to developing the skills of the new crop of engineers in the country. “In the field of engineering, formal engineering Guyana has a fairly young crop of engineers… and since we are still a young developing country, we are always under the scrutiny, we always have to do the sole source, we always have to consider what we are building, what is our mission in developing our country with respect to building a new country that has come out of an experience of colonialism and imperialism,” he said.
He said that it his hope that the conference will become a two- day annual event featuring central presentations, with poster sessions, “where we have peer review of the work that we do, where we have public scrutiny, where we have open discussions and criticisms and criticisms of how do we do our work and .”
Minister Benn also outlined some issues of concerns that the engineers must adhere to when building infrastructure around the country including safety, efficiency, quality, planning and the question of money.
“We have to continue to take vigorous steps with respect to ensuring safety in all the things we do and in relation with the national infrastructure building industry and particularly to point out where we have still problem in terms of the culture when we build,” he said.
Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn delivering opening
remarks at the 3rd engineering conference at the GICC
“We still see high buildings going up and there is no harness, no safety signs and so on,” he said.
He urged that quality is assured in everything and said that poor planning or rush jobs and uncertainty as to the specific technical and administrative roles that are inherent in the functions of each person responsible for the project will lead to a well-planned project falling into confusion and doubt.
With regards to the issue of money and funding for the project, Minister Benn said that the engineers also have the responsibility that the public money given out for projects is utilised for the public good and the public get what it wants with this money.