adminThe formation of the departments comes amid revelations that some members of the engineering sector were allegedly showing poor workmanship resulting in workplace accidents.
ECZ is a statutory body established through an Act of Parliament to regulate members of the engineering profession in the country.
The body’s chief executive officer Engineer Ben Rafemoyo said the establishment of the legal and inspectorate departments would go a long way in assisting to deal with misconduct and poor workmanship in the profession.
Under the Engineering Council Act Chapter 27:22 and Statutory Instrument 161 of 2010, any person practising engineering work or wishing to do the same in Zimbabwe is required to register with the ECZ.
“We are looking at a current budget of at least $500 000 to enable the council to set up the inspectorate and legal departments to deal with issues concerning the operations of engineers and technicians within Zimbabwe,” he said without revealing the amount that ECZ had so far secured from the Treasury.
It is a crime for engineers and technicians to operate within Zimbabwe without a practising certificate from the ECZ.
“We understand the challenges that the economy is facing. As a result the Government is also facing challenges to avail the resources that we require so that the departments can be established soon.”
Eng Rafemoyo said ECZ recently observed that some of the engineers and technicians were operating outside the law as they were not registered with the council while others showed poor workmanship in the execution of their jobs.
He said they observed that some of the accidents were a result of poor workmanship on the part of the engineers and technicians.
At the moment, ECZ is investigating cases where three engineering companies are alleged to have caused workplace accidents.
Determination on the matters is expected soon.
According to Eng Rafemoyo, before the economic slump, Zimbabwe had 3 000 registered engineers and technicians. However, because some of them left for greener pastures the council’s membership was presently below 600 while the figure could increase to 1 000 including unregistered members.
ECZ has statutory powers to deregister any players that would show an act of misconduct in the execution of their jobs.
The Engineering Council Act, which provides for the establishment of the ECZ, was enacted in 2007 to set the provision for the formation of a body responsible for the registration of engineers and engineering technicians and regulation of their practice in Zimbabwe.
The council also has powers to caution, fine, or suspend engineers for misconduct or gross incompetence.
Online Reporter