ESTHER MSETEKA, Lusaka
THE Engineering Institution of Zambia (EIZ) says it will start regular infrastructure inspections to help Government make informed decisions in light of massive development in the construction sector.
EIZ vice president policy, public relations and national development George Sitali said the checks will be done by the help of the infrastructure report card system which was launched by the Ministry of Transport, Works, Supply and Communication.
Mr Sitali said the initiative will help the institution to provide up to date information on Zambia’s infrastructure development with focus on structures in various economic sectors.
The sectors include agriculture, roads and bridges, water, sanitation, solid waste, electricity and fuel infrastructure.
“We launched what we call infrastructure report card system, this is a tool which we will use to create the status of infrastructure and at what stage it is. We will try to do infrastructure reports on a regular basis and each piece of infrastructure will be scored.
“Over a period, we will be reporting on each infrastructure to see whether it’s degrading or indeed its living its design life,” he said on Wednesday.
Mr Sitali said EIZ will also ensure that there is compliance from engineers and employers when providing or acquiring construction service in the country.
He said it is disheartening to hear of people dying due to the collapse of a poorly-constructed infrastructure in the country.
“When we hear of these accidents that have been happening for instance, in the construction sector, we visit the site to established as to what could have gone wrong…The disasters that have happened have proved that they have not been caused by our members,” he said.