Engineers in the country will soon be required to register their activities and specialization with the Ministry of Infrastructure according to a new government regulation. This was revealed on Friday by Eng. Albert Butare the State minister in charge of Energy and Water in a telephone interview. “The Institution of Engineers in Rwanda will be inaugurated soon and will register all professionals in the field so as to be able to ensure that quality of work and standards are adhered to by engineers in all domains,” said Butare. Butare however added that the ministry is not usurping the role of the Rwandan Bureau of Standards (RBS), but said that the ministry is working with RBS to set the necessary framework on how the quality supervising body will be able to check engineers approved by the ministry. He emphasized that there would be no duplication of roles between the RBS and Mininfra adding that the decision to form an engineers body was already enacted into law and is only awaiting official inauguration, without clarifying when the body would be launched. The registration of engineers comes at a time when the construction sector in the country is booming and fears abound on the quality of in particular high rise buildings mushrooming throughout the country especially in urban areas. It also comes at a time when the national skills audit report which was used to scrap certain conditions of particular skills identified engineering as one of the fields in the country that needs to attract more migrant labour into the country. “All engineers in the country in all their domains will be required to subscribe with us. We have set up basic qualifications standards. Nobody will be allowed to practice the trade without registering,” Butare said. Robert Muganga a Kacyiru based engineer welcomed the initiative saying that it will simplify their work as contracts will be awarded according to proven qualifications and competence. Ends
