Professional engineers in the country now have to update the status of projects they are undertaking on a new portal unveiled by the regulator in new crackdown on rogue engineers.
Speaking on Monday, during the launch of the 30th Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK) Convention, Engineers Board of Kenya CEO Margaret Ogai said that they will be following up to ensure only registered engineers are carrying out engineering work.
“We have come up with a portal where all engineers have to register their projects and we are going to monitor these projects,” said Ogai.
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Furthermore, Engineers Board of Kenya CEO Margaret Ogai, and Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Roads Joseph Mbugua said there are increasing cases where quacks undertake constructions.
Joseph Mbugua said that with government scaling up affordable housing agenda there is need to standardize construction across board. “We can’t afford a scenario where the president commissions a development then later we hear that it has collapsed,” said Mbugua.
The country has witnessed increased incidents of collapsed buildings leading t loss of lives and property. Quacks have been blamed for the substandard work.
“As a State Department, we commit to enforce the use of professional engineers in all our infrastructural projects. I appeal to all stakeholders both in public and private sectors to consider and make it a requirement for increased engagement of professional engineers in all critical areas,” he said.
Institution of Engineers of Kenya president Erick Ohaga said they are committed to bridging the gap in the sector to ensure compliance and competency of engineers.
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EBK and IEK said they hope to increase the number of registered engineering professional to 10,000 from the current 3,000. “We are looking for ways to ensure that work that should be done by engineers is only done by engineers. It’s a multi-sectoral approach for EBK we have been given some funding for engineering graduate programme,” said Ohaga.
Under the plan, The Institution of Engineers of Kenya, Engineering Board of Kenya, the police and National Construction Authority will undertake periodical evaluations on the status of the construction projects. The institutions will ensure that projects comply with the set standards.
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