By Yinka Kolawole
Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) has called for a structural change in the roles of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the implementation of the National Housing Policy.

President, NIQS, Agele  Alufohai, asserted that any structural change in the construction sector should affect the roles of MDAs and the provisions for them in the budget. “It is our view that from 2012, MDAs should begin to focus their budgets on the sort of training and hiring that will enable them to play critical regulatory and planning roles in a housing sector boom driven by acceleration in mortgage financing.

This reinforces the role of the budget as a tool for promoting structural economic change,” he said.

In a position paper on the 2012 budget, the institute noted that the construction industry, consisting mainly of residential and commercial buildings, estates and physical infrastructure, plays a critical and dynamic role in the economies of developing as well as industrialised countries, contributing between 4 to 14 percent of GDP.

They added that the impact of this sector on growth and structural economic diversification is beyond its nominal contribution to the GDP.

The quantity surveyors said there is need for government to ensure discipline and transparency in the costing of infrastructure development projects, adding that all stakeholders should embrace the discipline of costing that utilises appropriate costing methodologies and planning, value studies, value management, value engineering and reporting, to ensure that there is transparency in the reinvestment programme.

Alufoha noted that the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) would increase government’s expenditure on infrastructure by 50 percent, adding that states and local governments too are expected to invest an additional N411.03 billion and N203.23 billion respectively in social and educational infrastructure, thus raising the potential increase in infrastructure expenditure in Nigeria by 100 percent.

He advised that costing practices and standards, which are routine and mandatory requirements in public construction works in all well-governed countries, are incorporated into the monitoring and evaluation of the SURE Programme, assuring that this would ensure a high degree of public confidence, and guarantee that the economic and social goals of the programme are delivered.