President Ali commits to more scholarships as 5 new land surveyors sworn-in

…to set up land surveying institution

With Guyana embarking on massive developments across the country, the country’s need for land surveyors will increase and President Dr Irfaan Ali has committed to ensuring that there is scope for academic growth within this critical field.
“In terms of your academic progression, definitely, we will be examining the opportunities out there and then we will set aside, annually, a number of scholarships that suit your field,” the Head of State declared at the swearing-in ceremony of five new land surveyors at State House on Wednesday.

This commitment was in response to a plea from the Commissioner of Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC), Enrique Monize, who pointed out that the sector is losing its professionals due to the limited means for surveyors to advance themselves academically.
“There is really and truly no higher education in land surveying in the country and for us to achieve higher education, we have to go to London… or probably, I think UWI (University of the West Indies) is offering some courses right now. I would like to encourage the Government to look into the sponsorship of surveying students because we are using them to other fields because they can’t go forward… because there is no higher education,” the GL&SC Head stated.
In fact, he disclosed that in Government’s GOAL Scholarship Programme, there is only one programme relating to surveying – Land Economy – and most of the staff of the Commission have already signed up for it.
Monize went on to state that with the developments Guyana is currently undergoing, the Lands and Surveys Commission is in much need of specialist land surveyors, especially in areas such as geodesy, geographic information system (GIS), hydrographic engineering surveys, among others.
To this end, he encouraged the five newly sworn-in surveyors to ensure they pursue higher education.
As it is, Guyana currently has about 75 land surveyors registered in the country but only about 40 to 50 of them are actively operating right now. This includes surveyors in other State agencies and Ministries.
In comparison to other countries in the region such as Trinidad and Jamaica, the GL&SC Head contended that Guyana’s surveying capacity is inadequate.
“Our landmass is much more than those countries and we are seeing a phenomenal increase in development projects such as roads, housing schemes, hotels, agriculture project, D&I (drainage and irrigation) projects, and much more. Land surveyors are usually the first person on the land as they are responsible for providing the cadastral, topographic and other engineering data that guides the execution of projects.”
“We, as surveyors and mapping specialists, must be prepared to ensure that we can deliver quality surveying service to support the development of this country… I see surveyors being busy for a long time to come. So, gentlemen, be prepared to work hard in a very fast-paced environment,” Monize stated.

Land surveying institution
Meanwhile, in an effort to address the capacity gap in the local surveying field, President Ali on Wednesday outlined a series of initiatives that Government will be putting in place.
This includes the establishment of a land surveying institution that will not only cater to building local capacity but also serve the wider Caribbean and Latin American region.
“Our vision is to create a land surveying institution in this country that will provide services for the entire Caribbean and Latin America. We must be in a position in three years to have such a skill base that we can be tendering in every other jurisdiction to provide surveying work,” he posited.
According to the Head of State, Government will use the revenues from the oil and gas sector to position the country in a way that it invests in the right technology, trained human resources and get all the necessary certificates in order to compete regionally.
However, stressing the important role land surveyors have to play in supporting the country’s infrastructural development, the President underscored the importance of changing the traditional way of operation in the surveying sector. He explained that this begins at the training level by enhancing the programme to address the deficiencies.
To this end, he disclosed that the Education Ministry will be working with the GL&SC to establish a new programme for students to take to bolster their basic understanding of surveying before sitting the examination. Students are trained at the Government Technical Institute (GTI) for land surveying.
“So, before we embark on the examination of students in the future, there are three things I want to suggest that must be put in place from the next programme. We must have the Ministry of Education working with you on the development of three manuals specifically to your industry – a mathematics manual, a manual on writing skills and language, and a manual on geography or our national landscape… We cannot become only reliant on technology. It is important that we have basic fundamental knowledge inherent to our own CPU about the geographic landscape in which we hope to serve,” the Head of State underscored.
According to President Ali, this could help the surveying training programme to have a higher pass rate – something which has been consistently low over the years.
The five surveyors who took the oath of office on Wednesday were administered their examination in December 2021. Of the 31 candidates who sat the exam, only a mere five were successful. These are: Elijah Persaud, Marc Nicholson, Royston Washington, Tedwin Roach and Terron Roberts.
Last year, 17 new land surveyors including four females were sworn-in. (G8)