Formation of construction sector regulator on the cards

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The Minister of Water Resources Works and Housing, Alhaji Collins Dauda, has said that his Ministry will hold discussions with the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) Ghana, which could lead to the formation of a Regulator for the Construction Industry.

The Minister said this when Executives of CIOB Ghana paid a courtesy call on him to present a communiqu? issued after a two-day workshop on Sanitising and Regulating the Construction Industry in Ghana held in April this year.  
The workshop had presentations from twenty speakers on various topics and concluded that there was a need for the country to have an apex body such as a Construction Industry Development Authority.

Such a body, according to the communiqu?, would regulate the entire industry to ensure sanity and professionalism, build the capacity of construction firms and built environment professionals, as well as fashion-out policies to ensure sustained development of the Construction Industry.

Addressing the delegation from CIOB, Alhaji Dauda said the Ministry is committed to the development of the Construction Industry. He therefore urged CIOB Ghana to work closely with the Ministry to understudy similar regulatory bodies in other countries to see how one can be formed in Ghana.

Former Ghana High Commissioner to Malaysia Dan Abodakpi who chaired the Workshop shared the example of Malaysia, which has a Construction Industry Development Board, and spoke of how that institution has substantially transformed and continues to shape the industry in that country. He supported the move for CIOB Ghana to work with the Ministry to realise the formation of a similar body in Ghana.

Chairman of CIOB Ghana and Vice President for Africa, Rockson Dogbegah, disclosed that the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund is interested in supporting the process that will lead to passage of an Act to establish the envisioned Regulatory Body. He was therefore thankful to the Minister for the show of support and pledged to work with the Ministry to achieve the objective.

Mr. Dogbegah mentioned that several other African countries including South Africa, Malawi, and Tanzania have agencies regulating the industry, stating that Ghana cannot remain an island.  He said the current fragmented form of regulating construction works does not augur well for the country, and accounts for the numerous instances of shoddy work.

Other members of the delegation were former President of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors, Mr. K.H. Osei-Asante and Peter Quartey, an executive member of CIOB Ghana.      

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