Senior Vice President of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors, Alhaji Sulemana Mahama has bemoaned the low number of professional surveyors in the country.

He disclosed that the low number of professional surveyors in the country pegged at around 2,600, is inadequate.

Mr Sulemana Mahama made the statement at a forum held in Wa to whip up the interest of students in tertiary institutions in becoming professional surveyors.

In his address, he said the limited number of surveyors draws back government and other quasi-government institutions' plans from paying compensation to land owners when their lands are taken for developmental projects.

He explained that the delay in payment also brings about frustration on the part of landowners.

"When we do valuation and I mean the land is compulsorily acquired, we are supposed to pay compensation between a very short period. But we don't have enough valuers within the land valuation division.

"Look at the number of road projects that government executes every year, to make the access, we have to pay compensation for properties that are in the right of way and in this particular case, it is very important for us to have the adequate numbers.

"Even in the land administration, now about 80% of the total land in that area in the country is owned by traditional land authorities yet very few have professionals who help them manage these lands," he added.

Donkor Wanaa, a lecturer at Dr Hilla Liman Technical University's Department of Building Technology, fully supported the Ghana Institution of Surveyors' initiative to pique students' interest in the surveyor's field.

According to him, "choosing to do that programme means that you can fly high in the air but you need to make a lot of sacrifices, you need to attach yourself to training firms, you need to attach yourself to people that are already in the industry, you need to get closer to the industry titans so that you can learn from them," he urged the students.

On his part, the Chairman of the Quantity Surveying Division, Kofi Obeng Ayiribi called on the public to engage the services of professional surveyors to work on their projects.

This was supported by the Upper West Regions Head of Public Vested Land Management Division, Nana Asante Boateng.

"When you look at those in the legal profession, nobody can go and defend them unless you are a lawyer but when it comes to the surveying profession, you see a whole lot of people parading themselves under mango trees as estate agents and the likes, so we are entreating the general public to partronise the services of the land surveyors, valuers and quantity surveyors so that they can obtain value for money for their investment," he said.