The Minister of Infrastructure, Prof. Silas Lwakabamba, has called upon the Institution of Engineers in Rwanda (IER) to monitor and regulate the operation of engineering works in Rwanda to avoid collapse of buildings.
The Minister of Infrastructure, Prof. Silas Lwakabamba, has called upon the Institution of Engineers in Rwanda (IER) to monitor and regulate the operation of engineering works in Rwanda to avoid collapse of buildings.
The call was made at the event to launch IER at the ministry headquarters on Tuesday.
"The institution comes at the right time when we are experiencing fire outbreaks in prominent buildings due to poor engineering practices. Therefore, IER will safeguard against such lack of professionalism, which put the lives of people and their property at risk,” Prof. Lwakabamba said.
He said now that there is a body in place, lack of professionalism in the sector will be minimised by making operation of engineers, especially in the construction sector, standard.
The minster also encouraged the body to collaborate with institutions of higher learning to produce well qualified and trained engineers.
Eng. Dismas Nkubana, the chairperson of the governance council in IER, said the institution will now deal with corruption between engineers and the business community.
"It’s upon you, engineers, to act professionally because this is a unique job that affects many people. Any one involved will not only be de-registered, but will also face jail terms,” he said.
Nkubana also asked the public to be cautious when hiring construction engineers. "The public should only hire registered engineers because they take full responsibility,” he added.
IER will set up a data bank to enable them assess the number of professional engineers in the country.
According to the institution, so far, 46 engineers have been registered and 141 members have applied.
The Institution of Engineers in Rwanda was established in 2012. It is the learned society of engineers, with the mandate to promote and develop engineering profession and best practices for sustained development and welfare of Rwandans.
Following the establishment of the Institution of Engineers in Rwanda, local engineers will now be able to be part of the East African Engineering fraternity and the world beyond.