According to them, it was unfair to blame all engineers for the lapses in the country’s infrastructure especially when there are other external factors that affect the quality of work produced.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday, the president of West Africa Federation of Engineering Organizations, Magnus Quarshie said there must be conversations about how to ensure that engineers carry out their duties diligently and effectively.

The Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo while addressing a capacity building conference organized by the Ghana Institute of Engineers, Planners and Surveyors on Friday said the sub-standard infrastructural projects across the country cannot be blamed on politicians but rather engineers who design, execute and inspect these projects.

“…they were trying to apportion the blame and they put the blame on the politicians and I said; well, everyone here can analyze… who designs the roads, they said engineers. Who would normally specify the various adverts for the tender after the contract has been awarded and who supervises the work? Engineers…. No politician goes and supervises work. Who measures work done for payment? Engineers and allied professionals. Who approves the payment? The politicians. So going through these, where would you put the blame. You have gone to measure and analyze and say the man is due 30. My job is to approve the 30 and you think I should be blamed for approving what you have recommended? The answer is a big no!”

“So we professionals are involved seriously in the infrastructural deficit we have in this country,” Mr. Osafo Maafo said.

Mr. Magnus Quarshie said while he agreed with the minister’s analysis, he believes that frank conversations about the morality and motivations of engineers must be had.

Meanwhile, an Architect, Tony Asare has said that there is the need for a regulatory body to check the operations of engineers to ensure quality work.

“There are structural problems, there are corruption and technical issues, however, aspects of it must be properly regulated. If we start at this angle of blaming others for doing it, we will also look at it and start blaming the politicians. They also have a part to play,” he said.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post It’s unfair to blame engineers for shoddy works – Magnus Quarshie appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Sir David Adjaye received his award from Prince William, Duke of Cambridge at the official ceremony held at Buckingham Palace.

Commenting on the knighthood, David Adjaye said he was “deeply honoured and delighted to have received a knighthood for my contribution to architecture, and absolutely thrilled to be recognized for a role that I consider a pleasure to be able to undertake.”

“I would like to thank Her Majesty the Queen for this incredible privilege, which I see as a celebration of the potential architecture has to effect positive social change.”

David Adjaye’s knighthood follows two previous royal awards; the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours in October 2016, and an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2007.

The past 12 months saw David Adjaye make history with the opening of his Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

He is also working on the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art, Ghana National Museum on Slavery and Freedom and a new home for the Studio Museum in Harlem.

In an official statement The Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood at St. James’s Palace said:

“David Adjaye is recognized for his contribution to architecture and design. He is one of the leading architects of his generation and a global cultural ambassador for the UK. His designs include the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo in the shell of a disused railway station and the Whitechapel Idea Store in London where he also pioneered a new approach to the provision of information services as well as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver and numerous private commissions. His most recent major achievement was the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC.”

More about David Adjaye

Adjaye was born in Tanzania to Ghanaian parents. In 1994, he set up his first office, where his ingenious use of materials and his sculptural ability established him as an architect with an artist’s sensibility and vision.

He reformed his studio as Adjaye Associates in 2000, and immediately won several prestigious commissions all around the world.

Adjaye Associates now has offices in London and New York, with projects throughout the world. These include the Aishti Foundation shopping and cultural complex in Beirut (2015), the Alara concept store in Lagos (2014), and a new headquarters building for the International Finance Corporation in Dakar.

In September 2016, the architect celebrated his 50th birthday and completed the largest project in his career to date – the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History & Culture on Washington DC’s National Mall.

Adjaye has taught at the Royal College of Art, where he had previously studied, and at the Architectural Association School in London, and has held distinguished professorships at the universities of Pennsylvania, Yale and Princeton. He is currently the John C. Portman Design Critic in Architecture at Harvard.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ghanaian architect David Adjaye knighted for his services appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.