Africa Press-Nigeria:
President of the Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria (QSRBN) Alhaji Murtala Aliyu, in this interview, says the federal government needs to inject funds into housing in the effort to lift the economy and create employment. He also wants government to set up a body to manage assets recovered or confiscated by the anti-graft agencies.
How has your board fared under the COVID-19 pandemic?
The board, as a regulatory body, is managing like every other government agency; we are pushing things and we are also ensuring that standards are maintained despite the challenges imposed by the pandemic. The board regulates the practice of quantity surveying and we are concerned with keeping standards. We are concerned with monitoring the behaviour of license bearers and we are concerned that the appropriate professionals are deployed to the required services. This is our main focus now.
Of course, we have a few challenges, like we cannot call a board meeting physically. So the pandemic has allowed us to realise the potential of virtual facilities; we have held committee meetings using the zoom facility. We have also conducted interview for those who have qualified for license.
But if you are referring also to the effect of COVID-19 on the industry, there are quite a number of things. There are quite a number of effects that the pandemic will have on project delivery. One of them is the issue of the legal dimension. You enter a contract with somebody and there is time frame but this pandemic came and the whole world was shut down and you know that it will affect the time of delivery.
