MINISTER for Works, Transport and Communication, Prof Makame Mbarawa, has urged the Engineers Registration Board (ERB) to come up with short, medium and long term strategies that will help to improve and strengthen engineers’ capacity in the country.
Prof Mbarawa said ERB must set
strategies boost engineers’ capacity in terms of academic, equipment,
practice as well as embracing professionalism for the purpose of
achieving and sustaining highest possible quality engineering works and
services.
The minister gave the remarks ahead of
today ERB’s commemoration. He said with this year’s engineers’ day these
‘transformation of Tanzania towards becoming a middle income economy
through industrialisation: The Contribution of Engineers’, it is quite
clear ERB is committed to support the fifth government to realise
industrial revolution in the country.
However, Prof Mbarawa urged ERB to make
sure there is enough qualified, skilled and registered engineers so that
they can manage to perform their duties in various areas of their
specialisation.
“One of the most challenging constraints
facing the engineering sector in Tanzania is inadequate availability of
qualified, skilled and registered experts,” he noted. He said the
government aspiration to implement 2025 development vision that aim at
transforming low income earners to middle income earners with semi-
industrialised economy will be achieved with availability of good
engineering capacity.
“To a great extent, this aspiration can
be realised with the availability of good engineering capacity that can
effectively respond to and master the development challenges of the
related economic sectors,” said Prof Mbarawa.
The country has already started to
implement the second phase of Five Year Development Plan (2016/2017 –
2020/2021) as a continuation of the implementation of the Tanzania
Development Vision 2025.
According to Prof Mbarawa, ERB has
already put strategies in place to increase the number of qualified
engineering professionals and enhancing their capacity. He said one of
the most important ERB initiatives is facilitation of professional
training of fresh engineering graduates as a way to speed up the period
of fresh engineering graduates to acquire professional competence and
subsequent professional practice.
“The government in collaboration with
development partners has been providing financial support to enable ERB
improves engineers’ capacity,” he noted. The Permanent Secretary (PS)
for the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication, Eng. Joseph
Nyamhanga, said the government is aware of the challenges facing the
engineering sector and that it is doing everything in its powers to
address them.
“Some of the challenges are inadequate
working facilities, research in new techniques, systems and
technologies, financial constraints and the limited number of
professionals as compared to the market demand,” he said. He asked ERB
and other stakeholders in engineering and other sectors to come up with
recommendations on how to overcome such challenges.
The ERB Chairman, Prof Ninatubu Lema,
said this year’s engineers’ day theme has been selected because of the
significant role of engineers’ participation in various projects in the
realisation of the country’s 2025 vision.
“The two-day discussion will enable
participants to discuss on how industrial development, energy,
agriculture, good governance and environmental sustainability will
contribute in the achievement of Vision 2025 through industrialisation,”
he noted.
On ERB successes, Prof Lema said ERB in
the past 48 years has managed to register 17,353 engineers on various
categories of registration and 295 engineering consulting firms.
It also continued to coordinate the
Structured Engineers Apprenticeship Programme (SEAP) as an alternative
route for registration of graduate engineers.
So far, 3,607 graduate engineers have
benefitted from the programme among which most secured employments after
acquiring engineering competence. President John Magufuli is expected
to grace the engineers’ day today.
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