Institute Wants Dev Board To Regulate Construction Sector

Worried by the poor performance of the construction sector, a construction consultant, Mr Chucks Omeife, has called for the establishment of a Nigerian Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) to regulate the industry.
Omeife, who is the President, Chartered Institute of Project Managers of Nigeria (CIPMN) made the call in an interview with newsmen in Lagos yesterday.
He attributed the industry’s low contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the non-implementation of the right regulatory framework.
He said that the industry contributed less than five per cent to the country’s GDP, adding that the percentage contribution was significantly below the capacity of the industry, considering that the industry accounted for about 60 per cent of the workforce.
According to him, with the board in place, sanity will be restored to the construction industry.
“The board will be saddled with the roles of formulating, implementing, regulating policies, and initiatives that will speed up development processes especially in infrastructure across the country.
“It will spearhead the development of capacity, capability and quality of output as well as domestic and international competitiveness of the construction industry,” he said.
According to him, the establishment of CIDB has been one of the key recommendations of several research works on the nature and prospects of the construction industry in developing countries.
He noted that developing countries such as Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, India, Malaysia, and Singapore had embraced the concept with attendant pay-offs especially in the realisation of their national goals.
The president of the institute said that a lot of regulatory frameworks that could reposition the construction and building industry existed, but they were yet to be implemented.
“With CIDB, the polices will be implemented.
“CIDB will strategically engage the government by speaking with a single but collective voice to the government through policy statements, budget advice and programme monitoring,” he said.
Omeife said that the board to be set up could be a private or government agency that would work with and drew guidance and support from a coalition of public and private sector organisations, all service providers in the construction industry and all arms of government.