Monday, 6 October 2008
South African Engineers Offer Own 'Report Card'
They say that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. If that is the case, ASCE has been flattered by the South African Institution of Civil Engineers. On my recent visit to South Africa, they presented a copy of their Infrastructure Report Card for 2006. Clearly, they had sought the advice of our Government Relations staff in the preparation of their Report Card. The small handout follows very closely ASCE's presentation. They identified nine broad areas to be rated. One that they had that ASCE doesn't is hospitals and clinics.
In addition to the small handout, SAICE developed a 16-page 8½" x 11" booklet that explains in depth their Report Card, which deals with the "built environment infrastructure, buildings and engineering infrastructure that are part of the nation's capital stock." They go on to state that the infrastructure is a public asset and that all South Africans have a stake in its upkeep and operation and all share in the expense of its construction and maintenance.
SAICE gave an overall grade of D+ to their built environment infrastructure, primarily because of poor and/or lack of maintenance. They state the government should not changes its focus on new infrastructure, but the challenge is to do this and at the same time maintain both the old and new, and upgrade and replace that which is overloaded or has become obsolete. They further state that a well maintained infrastructure underpins the quality of life and economic development.
Their report's commentary also addresses a severe shortage of engineering skills in South Africa. They point out an interesting statistic about the number of people per engineer. In China, there are 130 people per engineer; in the United Kingdom it's 311; in Germany, 217; in Australia, 455; and in the United States, we have one engineer for every 389 people. However, South Africa has only one engineer for every 3,166 people. Clearly, without the engineering skills and resources, maintaining their infrastructure will continue to pose a major challenge.
In addition to the small handout, SAICE developed a 16-page 8½" x 11" booklet that explains in depth their Report Card, which deals with the "built environment infrastructure, buildings and engineering infrastructure that are part of the nation's capital stock." They go on to state that the infrastructure is a public asset and that all South Africans have a stake in its upkeep and operation and all share in the expense of its construction and maintenance.
SAICE gave an overall grade of D+ to their built environment infrastructure, primarily because of poor and/or lack of maintenance. They state the government should not changes its focus on new infrastructure, but the challenge is to do this and at the same time maintain both the old and new, and upgrade and replace that which is overloaded or has become obsolete. They further state that a well maintained infrastructure underpins the quality of life and economic development.
Their report's commentary also addresses a severe shortage of engineering skills in South Africa. They point out an interesting statistic about the number of people per engineer. In China, there are 130 people per engineer; in the United Kingdom it's 311; in Germany, 217; in Australia, 455; and in the United States, we have one engineer for every 389 people. However, South Africa has only one engineer for every 3,166 people. Clearly, without the engineering skills and resources, maintaining their infrastructure will continue to pose a major challenge.
Posted by at 2:30 PM in Global Issues