By Jude Njoku

Worried by increasing level of corruption in the construction industry, Nigerian Quantity Surveyors have called on the he Federal Government to set up a Nigerian Construction Industry Transparency Initiative, NCITI to promote probity, accountability and transparency in this construction industry.

The construction cost experts also want anti-graft agencies such as the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission, ICPC and the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to beam serious searchlights on construction projects to curb the use of such projects as conduit pipes for money laundering and looting of public funds by public  servants.

These recommendations were made by the cost experts at the end of the 24th Annual Conference of Registered Quantity Surveyors, put together by the Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria, QSRBN in Abuja. The two-day conference had “Global perspectives on quantity surveying, cost engineering and project management” as its theme.

In a communique signed by QSRBN Chairman, Mallam Hussaini Adamu Dikko and Registrar, Mr Godson Moneke, the construction cost economists further called on the the Federal Government to provide the resources and other supports necessary for the QSRBN to establish both a National Construction Cost Database and a Data Centre for effective management and control of costs of construction projects in Nigeria.

The conference charged registered quantity surveyors to engage in life-long learning to sharpen their skills and acquire new knowledge to enable them cope with the challenges of the increasing demands on their competencies by governments and society.

The participants also sought regular review of the curricula of quantity surveying as taught in universities and polytechnics in the light of emerging trends, expanding scope of the body of knowledge of the profession occasioned by rapid advancement in technology and globalization.

Other recommendations canvassed by the Board include: * Projects controls, planning, scheduling and benchmarking techniques should be promoted across the built-environment as veritable cost management tools available to quantity surveyors for enhancing project procurement efficiency in Nigeria

* The Federal Government should strengthen the cost management function as a way of ensuring value for money for its huge investments in strategic assets in the oil and gas sector and to protect national interest and security.

*Registered quantity surveyors in the public sector should be given more support to attend seminars, workshops and conferences both local and international to enable them benchmark their competencies globally like their colleagues in the private sector.