The Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) has accused the Federal government of indirectly encouraging quackery by not giving financial support to regulatory boards in the built industry.
The body also blamed the incessant collapse of buildings in the country on non-involvement of professionals by government and private individuals in the construction and supervision of building projects.
NIQS President, Mr. Olayemi Shonubi, who disclosed this while briefing journalists on the forthcoming Biennial Conference and General meeting of the institute, said an average Nigerian and the Federal Government does not engage quantity surveyors in the execution of their projects.
He said the frequent collapse of buildings has continued to dent the image of professional bodies despite the fact that they are not directly involved in the construction of most of the buildings that have collapsed in the country.
Shonubi made a case for the involvement of professionals both in construction and supervision of a building project. “If you use an architect, structural engineer and quantity surveyor to supervise the work, the outcome will be what you would be very proud of. As a professional organisation, we are dedicated to advancing the field of cost management in infrastructure projects,” he said.
On quackery, Olayemi said: “All the professional bodies have disciplinary committees that handle quackery and unprofessional conducts but there have been failures in the implementation and enforcement of relevant laws. Government is indirectly encouraging quackery by not giving adequate support to regulatory bodies it has set up to regulate in the built industry.
“Government said that it will no longer fund professional regulatory boards, I don’t know how these boards are going to survive, as the government is supposed to fund them to ensure that only qualified and certified people can practice to prevent quackery.
“The government is the one encouraging quackery indirectly because if you don’t give adequate support to the regulatory boards that you have set up, why complain of quackery?
On the rising cost of building materials, Olayemi stated that the only solution is to begin local production of building materials. He said: “As long as we continue to import building materials and with the current management of foreign exchange regime, it will be difficult to bring down the cost of building materials.”
He, therefore, called on the Federal Government to support local production of building materials to bring down the skyrocketing price of such materials in the market.
