Engineers “will soon be held

accountable” for substandard work

By Kiana Wilburg

The government will not be made to face the blame on its own, as it relates to the inferior work produced by some contracted engineers, since moves are being made to have the reformed Guyana Engineering Act of 1999 before Parliament as soon as possible. It will be used as a tool to keep defaulting engineers in check while serving as a guideline to stipulate who can legally practice the profession. The call for the legislation came on the heels of complaints of malpractice in the engineering profession. Opposition members insist that it is high time that engineers be held accountable as well when multi-million-dollar constructions turn into the proverbial “white elephant.”

GAPE President, Joel Trotman

Head of the Guyana Association of Professional Engineers, (GAPE), Mr. Joel Trotman had recently stressed that there is an urgent need for the passage of the legislation so that engineers in Guyana can have a set of regulations to which they must obey. With Engineers operating in Guyana without proper legislation to govern their practice, Trotman asserts that it will only lead to more complex problems. While Trotman claims government has “fallen through on its promises” to get the Engineering Act passed, the GAPE President still made another appeal to the administration and even members of the political opposition recently to recognize the importance of the legislation and see that it be passed. But this time around, Trotman’s prayers for the expedience on the part of the reformed 1999 Act being passed may finally be on its way to materializing, as A Partnership for National Unity’s Shadow Minister of Public Works and Telecommunications, Joseph Harmon vows that he will be looking into the matter and once all is cleared, have it brought to the Parliament. Harmon in an invited comment expressed that the piece of legislation is of paramount importance, especially when one takes into account the amount of engineers and investors that are coming into the country. “With this phenomenon taking place it becomes even more important to have the legislation in place. This will most certainly allow for there to be a code of ethics which will regulate the manner in which our engineers operate and even the ones coming to work in our country. “ The Member of Parliament lamented that he has publicly spoken on the fact that “some engineers” appear to be doing jobs in Guyana of which they are not that knowledgeable. “I have even called for there to be a national engineer’s discourse during my speech in 2012 when the budget was being debated. The dialogue was geared towards getting the engineers on board and having them talk about issues affecting the improvement of the profession in Guyana. We need to have this sort of discourse.” The politician added, “I will most certainly lend my support to this legislation and I will get some queries done. There is no question that we need proper legislation. We must have a statute which articulates what can and cannot be done by our engineers.” In further reinforcement of his points, He informed that he received several complaints in relation to the Morruca Bridge in Region one –Barima Waini. “The contractor complained that junior engineers sign off on drawings that they didn’t understand…It’s not only now we hear these complaints but we have heard it about other projects and we need the legislation so that these professionals can know that they have regulations to adhere to. Rest assured I will look into why this legislation has been languishing wherever it is.” Moreover, Trotman had said that the legislation is necessary as, in its absence, public welfare and property are constantly put at a total disadvantage. Trotman said that GAPE has been piloting the call for the reformed Act to be looked at for some time now. He had also stated that with the harmonization of professionals across the Caribbean states through the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), it becomes necessary for Guyana to exercise “reciprocity of laws.” “If we have our professional engineers going to Trinidad or Barbados then they will have to fit the standards set out by the statute in those territories. And Guyana must appreciate that in such a situation, reciprocity of standards must exist. I say all of this to simply explain that Guyana will be exchanging with the region, a number of our professionals and when these people come to our country, we need to have a proper legislation that sets out a standard for them to use as their torchlight during their practice. Without an Act, we will only leave the profession exposed to intolerable levels of malpractice and misconduct, and that already exists.”