Congress Welcome Address by:
Mr. Pratarp Singh, B.E, F.F.I.E,
The President of the Fiji Institution of Engineers, 04 May 2012
On behalf of the Governing Council and Members
of The Fiji Institution of Engineers (F.I.E), it is with
great pleasure and an honour that I welcome you
all,
from here in Fiji and the region to the Fiji Institution
of Engineers Congress on the challenging theme
of
“Christchurch Earthquakes – Outcomes, Lessons
and Implementations and Relevance to Fiji’s
Building and Construction Laws”,
a topic which has direct relationship to Disaster
Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation.
I would like to especially welcome the Acting
Australian High Commissioner to Fiji, Mr. Glenn
Miles
and our partners in Disaster Risk Reduction and
Climate Change Adaptation, AusAID for funding
yet another important and significant congress.
I would also like to specially welcome our Minister
for Works, Transport and Public Utilities Mr. Timoci
Natuva,
the Trade Commissioner; New Zealand High
Commission, Mr. Peter Lund,
all the invited keynote speakers;
Mr. Peter Wood from the Min; of CDEM NZ
(branch of internal affairs),
Mr. Knut Ostby from the UN,
Dr. Andrew Cleland from the IPENZ
Mr. Dean Garrod from MYNZ
Mr. Shamus Wallace & Mr. Chris Freer from T&T
NZ &
Associate Professor Dr. Stefano Pampanin from
the UoC
my regional colleagues from Papua New Guinea,
Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands
who are the executives of the South Pacific
Engineers Association;
your excellencies and dignitaries from the various
organisations and the various ministries of the
Government of Fiji, invited guests from the
professions of engineering; architecture; law and
tertiary teaching insitutions, friends, university
students and the media.
The theme of the Congress is most interesting and
relevant, not only to Fiji and the region, but also to
the world.
The theme is very topical, as only 7 days ago last
Friday, we in Suva and the neighbouring suburbs
were shaken by a 4.6 magnitude earthquake.
There were no reported damage, but
How well prepared were or are we?
During the course of the day, as the presentations
are made, you will learn enough to realize the
greater importance of this subject within our
professions and the built and developed
environment we live in.
Quality keynote speakers with expertise in
emergency
management,
administration,
academia, engineering, insurances and policy
matters will make presentations during the day.
A credible and competent Panel has been
selected for deliberation and for a Q&A session
during the day.
Regardless of whether a country is developed,
developing or under developed, there are some
serious
messages
from
the
Canterbury
Earthquakes of 04 September 2010 and 22
February 2011 and the aftershocks for all of us.
The actual handling of the disaster in the rapid
response period and later during the recovery
phase by the national control centre, various
emergency units like the Fire and the Police,
the hospitals, the engineers, the utilities services,
the NGO’s, the business community and the
community at large have issues and lessons for
everyone.
On the sadder side, Christchurch is still in its
recovery phase and far from recovered.
After the Canterbury events many questions are
being asked:
What controls building design and construction?
Is my building fully insured?
How quickly will my claim be responded?
Will I be able to insure again?
How did the engineering design perform?
How do you assess the leftover earthquake life of
a building?
Should Fiji start building safety evaluation and
retrofitting?
Are NZ and Fiji earthquake design codes likely to
change due to Canterbury incidents?
Have we thought of our ageing infrastructure?
How good are they?
You may recall about 1,000 communication towers
were damaged during Hurricane Katrina in the
USA.
Hopefully some of the above and other questions
will be answered in this congress.
Public safety is every engineer’s daily duty.
Engineers must engage in the research and
findings,
identify the relevance and appropriateness to the
needs of their own countries
and advise the Policy makers and the regulators of
the necessary changes in the building and
construction industries.
Disasters, causes of which are either due to the
natural hazards like the earthquakes, cyclones,
floods, tsunamis or volcanoes or
technology initiated like the deep water drilling in
the Gulf of Mexico, lately an air crash in Pakistan,
sinking of the passenger ferry in Tonga, etc
are sometimes unavoidable and unstoppable.
However, engineers and scientists can make a
positive difference
as they have a duty to the communities and to the
governments of the day to relieve the suffering
from such disasters
by applying their technical and scientific
knowledge and engaging into the actual issues to
make contributions at different platforms and
levels.
Donors,
engineers,
architects,
planners,
academics, risk managers, disaster management
units, private sectors, the governments of the day
and the communities need to partner and
collaborate to strengthen disaster preparedness
and thus improve the GDP of an economy.
Therefore:
 Engineers must engage in and support
humanitarian outcomes in the acute phase of
disasters.
 The engineers, architects, planners and other
relevant professionals need to diversify their
portfolios by engaging in policy making.
 To better manage and utilize their aid funds,
the donors will need to better understand the
roles and expectations of engineers and other
technical experts.
 Academic institutions will need to strengthen
partnership with private and public sectors in
order to deliver better designed and relevant
programmes and appropriately trained
graduates to be competent in the work force.
 Engineers need to engage and contribute to
improve the reliability of data collected, its
appropriate use and application to reduce
risks.
 Risk assessment and management will need
to be better understood and applied to
appropriate local conditions in a cost effective
manner.
Appropriate
and
competent
Standards, Codes and Acts,
engineering
qualified and experienced engineers and other
professionals are required to develop solutions to
mitigate damages from disasters;
therefore enhancing the financial security and
sustainability of a country.
It is timely and fitting for me to announce that,
through the endeavours of the F.I.E,
the Fiji National Building Code, which is one of the
legislations under the Act of the Ministry of Health,
is undergoing
transformation.
regulatory
improvements
and
The F.I.E is also proud to have written for the
nation the proposed chartered professional
engineers act of Fiji.
The above underpin the sentiments of United
Nations International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction (UNISDR),
in particular the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005
– 2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and
Communities to Disasters.
Individuals and organisations linked to the building
and construction industries need to collaborate
and work in partnership.
The F.I.E over the last few years has been
partnering with relevant local and regional
organisations
and
providing
continuing
professional development in the area of disaster
management.
The F.I.E highly values and recognises your
presence here today and this union is expected to
make contributions
to improve and advance Fiji in building resilience
to disasters. Continuing close and regular
consultations are expected and your support today
and in the future
is necessary for long term viability and
sustainability of our fragile and developing
economy.
Engineers and Scientists will continue to face the
emerging challenges, perhaps at an accelerated
rate
from the different forms of disasters and the
predicaments from the unpredictable climate
changes.
Nations will need to quickly learn and adapt to
build resilience.
The actual landscape for the practice areas
including the profession of engineering has
changed and will continue to change.
Engineers and Scientists will have to rise to those
challenges.
Finally, I believe “Engineering is the cornerstone
and hub of any economy, but GOOD engineering
is the cornerstone and hub of a SUCCESSFUL
economy”.
The F.I.E is looking forward to your contributions
and wishes you all an exciting and productive day
at this congress.
Thank you.