THE GHANA Institution of Surveyors (GhIS) has appealed to government to as a matter of urgency, expedite actions towards the passage of the Surveying Council Bill which is currently before Parliament.
The bill, when passed, will provide the legal framework for the regularisation of activities within the surveying profession in Ghana with a view of ensuring high professional standards while safeguarding the interests of Ghanaian surveyors.
Speaking at the launch of the 17th Surveyors’ Week and 53rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Accra, President of the Institution, Surveyor Dr. John Amaglo said the passage of the bill would also ensure that non-surveyors are barred from providing technical advice on land and land administration matters while ensuring that only professional quantity surveyors prepare and monitor all project budgets in the country, especially public projects.
“Ignoring these,” he cautioned, “will always lead to chaos.”
The 2022 Surveyors’ Week, being held under the theme: “Emerging Global Technologies: Implications for the Surveying Practice in Ghana”, aims to provide professionals and organisations with the opportunity to “step back, evaluate and discuss the various revolutionary changes that digitalisation has brought and the implication on the practice of surveying in Ghana.”
The implications for the surveying profession in Ghana, he hinted, involves understanding crisis management and responding to protect the workforce while maintaining work continuity and making communication more effective to encourage remote working to deliver value to clients.
These interventions, he stressed, are only possible with digital transformation, the implementation of which may work differently with different organisations and contexts.
He counseled government that in the light of emerging global technologies, there should be a concerted effort in putting in place policy measures for the collaboration of the private sector and state institutions to pay attention to some critical areas including employing the use of drones for timely acquisition of efficient situational awareness in natural disaster management as well as for patrolling of Ghana’s national boundaries and natural resources.
He also advocated for the application of digitisation and technology in town planning and development; land management and administration at all levels of land governance; and property valuation for property rating through the use of Computer Aided Mass Appraisal (CAMA) to ensure cheaper and faster valuation of buildings for property taxation among others.
About GhIS
The Ghana Institution of Srveyors (GhIS) is a recognized professional body which comprises three surveying disciplines, namely: the Land Surveying Division, the Quantity Surveying Division, and the Valuation & Estate Surveying Division, with a combined membership of over 2,500 working across the length and breadth of Ghana with a few in other countries.
Its objectives are to facilitate the acquisition of requisite knowledge crucial for a surveyor’s profession while maintaining and promoting its use for the public good.
By Nii Adjei Mensahfio