The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has said the Federal Government will pay great attention and invest heavily in road infrastructure, power and housing in the coming years.
The sectors, he said, would be prioritised on account of their contributions to national economy due to their capacities to generate multiplier effects and employment on a large scale.
The minister said this 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, on Thursday in Abuja.
Fashola said the 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.
The minister, who was represented by the Director, Survey Department, Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Dickson Onojah, urged 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.
He said, “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.”
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.
Dikko said, “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.”