President of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE), Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, has proposed the separation of political administration from engineering management.

According to him, this separation will make the engineering management autonomous and ensure that the core functions of engineering are carried out ethically and effectively.

Speaking on MultiTV’s PM Express on Tuesday, he also said the many problems facing the country in the area of waste management, town planning among others, have come about because the enforcement of important regulation is poor.

“Right now there is a complete breakdown in enforcement because there is a chaotic assembly of ministries and agencies that are trying to deal with the problem,” he said.

The comments by the GhIE President and former politician comes as the GhIE joins the world to mark the World Engineering Day (WED) today, March 4, 2020.

GhIE is partnering with UNESCO Ghana and the Accra Technical University (ATU) mark the international day that celebrates engineers and engineering.

The day was proposed by the World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO) with support from over 80 professional engineering institutions, international academics and national commissions, representing over 23 million engineers around the world.

The WFEO proposal was also backed by over 40 nations including Ghana and was eventually adopted at the UNESCO General Assembly in November 2019.

World Engineering Day is an opportunity to celebrate the significant contributions of engineers and engineering to sustainable development and modern life.

It is universally recognised that the implementation of solutions to achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) depends largely on engineers and engineering.

In Ghana, Ing Agyepong revealed that, as part of the celebration, children between the ages of eight and 15 will be assembled at the ATU to introduce them to engineering and encourage them to take up engineering careers.

“We are replicating this with our branches in Volta Region [Ho] and Tamale and in Kumasi as well…The whole thing is to make engineering attractive to the youth,” he said.

The WED event is expected to be observed by all 193 UNESCO WFEO member countries across the world to raise the profile of the engineering profession.

Again in Ghana, the GhIE which is the primary professional body representing over 11,000 registered engineering practitioners, has subsequently re-aligned its strategic plan to reflect the global vision by using the inaugural event to promote engineering as a professional career for the next generation, especially the girl child.

Engineering institutions, universities, businesses, engineering practitioners and students are encouraged to join the GhIE in the celebration of World Engineering Day today.