Patrick Andrew Abuja
Th e Board of Quantity Surveyors has asked the federal government to include its members in the prebudgeting stages for construction works including roads and houses to ensure appropriate cost and valuation of projects. Th e Chairman of the Board, Surveyor Murtala Aliyu, made the demand yesterday at the inauguration of the Quantity Surveyors Registration Board Nigeria (QSRBN) at the corporate headquarters of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing.
Aliyu, who is the Executive Director, Afri-Projects Consortium, said members of the professional body should be included in all pre-budgeting discourses and negotiation because it allows them to bring in expert knowledge on project cost, assessment and feasibility of the intended construction works. According to him, whether the project in question is road or construction of houses, the body has the professional competence to advice government of cost of such projects stressing that the inclusion of quantity surveyors and valuers will make it easier for government to come out with reality and attainable budget for the built environment and others as well.
“Th e federal government must involve our members at the prebudgeting stages so that they we can contribute to proper budgeting for construction roads and houses. “Our members have the cost profi le of projects, are aware of the cost needed to execute projects taken into cognisance the topography of the respective environments,” he said adding abandonment of projects or recurrent review of cost of projects will be drastically reduced if members of the professional body are involved at subsequent prebudgeting stages.
Th e minister, Babatunde Fashola, charged the 18-members of the board including two women to evolve means of creating awareness of the essence of their profession without being too offi cious. He equally charged them to create data, and engage students in tertiary institutions with a view assisting them to focus on Nigeria’s real areas of need and where they could be easily engaged. Malam Aliyu pledged the determination of the members to meet expectations during their three-year tenure.