[ 2016-11-12 ]

Engineers asked to scrutinise projects critically
The Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the
Board of Eco Informatics, an Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) Company, Ing. Dr
Kwame Boakye, has asked engineers to scrutinise
projects critically before they are finally
delivered. According to him, engineers owe it a
duty and responsibility to ensure that any project
they undertake or supervise is properly executed.
Dr Boakye was speaking at the 2016 Annual
Conference of Society of Volta River Authority
Engineers (SOVRAE) at the Kpong Power House at
Akuse in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality in the
Eastern Region.

This year’s conference was on the theme:
“Addressing challenges of project delivery,
operations and maintenance in the utilities.”

Projects

He said project delivery, operations and
maintenance were inextricable linked to life-cycle
management of projects.

“Projects completed are expected to be turned
over for operations and maintenance and,
therefore, challenges in the project delivery
eventually end up as problems during operations
and maintenance when they are not resolved
properly,” he said.

Dr Boakye stated that engineers ought to be
mindful of the fact that “almost every major
project that is designed to alleviate poverty,
disease and increase economic growth in a way has
great deal of engineering embedded in it,” he
indicated.

He further observed that “when a project
deliverable is deficient, the result is seen
during the operation and maintenance phases; they
become more expensive.”

To address challenges in the sector, Dr Boakye
suggested that there must be transparency in the
selection of projects and its management,
including the establishment and consultation of
project boards and development experts.

Advice

The President of SOVRAE, Ing. Darlinton A. Ahuble,
said the society needed to position itself to
offer independent advice to management and allied
institutions, adding that “engineering
challenges require a transaction and
trans-institutional efforts.”

He added that “coordinated action among the
utilities and affiliate engineering institution is
vital to finding solutions that will benefit
society and the nation Ghana.”

The Chief Executive of the Volta River Authority
(VRA), Mr Kirk Koffie, said the future of power
generation depended on young engineers, for which
reason he entreated the experienced ones in the
profession to mentor the former.

Source - Graphiconline

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