21 Jul 2013

Parliament was July 18 was presented with the Engineers (Amendment) Bill to limit the minister’s discretionary powers of exempting engineers from the requirement to hold a practicing certificate.

Presenting the Bill, Minister of Infrastructure, Science and Technology, Mr Johnnie Swartz said the requirement in Section 19 of the Engineers Registration Act is not consistent with international best practices as it creates a two tier engineering practices in the country which is not in the best interest of the profession.

“It poses a potential risk to the integrity of the works carried out in executing public works by engineers employed by government and other exempted employers as they are not subjected to the same degree of scrutiny to ascertain their credentials and capacity to carry out public engineering works,” he said.

Mr Swartz said it also compromises their profession to lower ethical standards and practices which the Engineers Registration Board will be unable to bring to book due to the exemption status.

“An exemption from registration as currently provided for retains the status quo in which engineers employed by government will not be subjected to any engineering practice standards and ethical behaviours which may result in poor engineering practices which will not be acceptable elsewhere outside government,” he said.

The minister further said it is not in the public interest to compromise standards for public infrastructure as this will result in substandard engineering works thereby exposing public to risks which the Act sought to minimise through self-regulation of the profession.

He said the minister’s powers should be limited only to cases where it is in the interest of the public. ENDS