The Ghana Institution of Surveyors (GhIS) is developing two manuals to promote professionalism among practitioners in the country.
The manuals which comprised the valuation standards and professional standards, the institution believes would bring about the needed change in terms of surveying in the country due to globalisation.
The Chairperson of the Valuation and Estate Division of the Ghana Institute of Surveyors, Mr Emmanuel Kofi Cobbold, said this at the side-lines of the 36th annual divisional seminar of the Valuation and Estate Surveying Division at Cape Coast.
It was on the theme: “Contemporary valuation and estate surveying practice-thinking globally, acting locally.”
The seminar brought together over 200 participants drawn across the country.
Mr Cobbold indicated that, the GhIS was committed to ensuring that professional standard in the country aligned with other jurisdictions around the globe.
According to him the development of the manuals, would compel practitioners to understand, and do what was expected of them as professionals.
He explained that, the policy would criminalise activities of people who did not have the required licence to practice and also to weed out quacks from the system.
Mr Cobbold further said that, the programme would also sensitise members on money-laundering since the menace was an important topic worldwide as it would ensure that nobody was using money from such areas to purchase property “to wash their dirty money.”
Surveying, he indicated, was not only about land but other areas including valuation.
The Central Regional Minister, Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, in an address read on her behalf, underscored the need for members of the association to adhere to the required standards in the discharge of their duties.
She acknowledged the important role of members of GhIS in the development of the society, and urged professionals in the field of surveying to adhere to the ethics of the profession.
Additionally, she called for the provision of ethical training and sensitisation programmes on contemporary issues for members.
She asked members of the association to be abreast of the existing land act which was aimed at reforming the land sector.
Mrs Assan underscored the need for the association partner with government agencies towards ensuring the transformation of the local economy.
The Paramount Chief for Owirenkyi Traditional Area, Ehunabobrim Prah Agyensaim, in his remarks, tasked members of the association to exhibit professionalism in their work.
FROM DAVID YARBOI-TETTEH, CAPE COAST
