Apex body vows to resolve problems of consulting engineers

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi

The Chairman of the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), Syed Abdul Qadir Shah, has assured that he will leave no stone unturned in resolving the issues confronting the consulting engineers of the country. 

He held out the assurance while speaking as the chief guest at a reception hosted to felicitate Maulana Arif Kassim and Ahsan Azhar Siddiqi, on their election as Secretary and President of Consulting Engineering Association of Pakistan (CEAP) respectively. 

“The PEC, within its jurisdiction, will extend total support in resolving the problems of consulting engineers,” Abdul Qadir Shah told the gathering. 

He particularly referred to the enrollment of the CEAP members with the PEC and announced that leaving the choice with the President and Secretary CEAP, either of them would be taken on PEC’s Enrollment Committee so that no problem is faced by their members in getting PEC’s enrollment. 

He recalled that recently the PEC had invited Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani to its dinner function in which the Prime Minister accepted their demands including matters related to service structure of engineers and appointment of engineers as heads of engineering sections of their respective departments. 

Referring to the issues raised by eminent consulting engineers, the Chairman PEC directed that the same should be submitted to him in writing and reiterated the assurance that PEC would solve them. 

Abdul Qadir Shah informed the audience that a Help Desk has been set up at the PEC and the Council would publicize the vacancies of engineers wherever it will come to know about their availability. He said that the PEC has asked the Consultants to appoint engineers in their respective organizations, addng that this would greatly helpful in overcoming unemployment among engineers. 

Earlier in his speech, the CEAP Secretary, Arif Kassim, called for greater unity among consulting engineers and said only a strong coordination between them would help resolve their problems. 

He urged the CEAP members to work dedicatedly for promoting the cause of the association. He also highlighted various problems faced by consulting engineers, particularly their enrolment with the PEC and demanded that consulting engineers be given representation in its various committees. 

The CEAP President, Ahsan Siddiqi, remarked that their Association has enlisted the problems faced by its members and has taken initiatives to resolve them. Earlier Mohammed Shafiq, an eminent consulting engineer, delivered the welcome address and expressed the hope that as the chief of the engineer’s epoch body, he will be able to resolve the issues faced by consulting engineers. 

The outgoing President of the Association also spoke on the occasion and highlighted various problems faced by Consulting Engineers. Besides a large number of consulting engineers from various engineering disciplines, the reception was also attended by Vice-Chairman, PEC, Mukhtar Shaikh, DG Railway’s Walton Training Institute, Qureshi, and a former civil servant, Ashfaq Memon.