ACTIVITIES OF THE BOARD - DECEMBER 1999   Back to Activities Contents

8.0      Promotional and Outreach Activities

            In 1999 the Board continued to enjoy its special relationship with APETT and Board Member Eng. Prof. Winston Mellowes was installed as President of APETT in March.  This is the first time that a sitting President of APETT has also been a member of the Board of Engineering.  The joint Board/APETT outreach to non-registered engineers continued and the stream of applications for registration continues to be steady.  Representatives of the Board and of APETT met with representatives of the local branch of the American Society of Petroleum Engineers to discuss the implications for SPE members of the proposed amendments to the Engineering Profession Act.  The Board has also agreed to work with both APETT and SPE to establish permanent co-operative mechanisms between the SPE and the indigenous engineering organizations. 
By arrangement with APETT the Professional Engineering Newsletter (PEN) was sent to all engineers registered with the Board and each issue of PEN contains information specific to the activities of the Board.

8.1       Website

            A Website for the Board is scheduled to be online by January 2000 and the draft Residential Building Code will be on the Site to be available for public comment.  The Board will be looking at the financial implications of putting the list of registered engineers on the Website.           

8.2      Association of Consulting Engineers of T&T (ACETT)

In anticipation of the proposed amendments to the Engineering Profession Act the Board has reached agreement with ACETT for members of ACETT to voluntarily apply to register their companies with the Board as companies offering engineering services to the public.  The Board will be seeking to have other similar companies apply for registration prior to the amended Act coming into force of law.

8.3      Other Outreach Activities

During the year the Board continued to make contributions on issues relating not only to the practice of engineering but also to the development of the professional cadre of the Country.  The Board is represented on the Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry (JCC) and in 1999 the Board participated in the attempts by the Group of Professional Associations of T&T to facilitate compromise in the disagreements between the Dental Council and the Ministry of Health.

The Board adheres unwaveringly to the principle that the management of the professions while subject to oversight in the public interest, must reside among the practicing members of the profession.

9.0    1999 Appreciation Award 

            In dealing with matters relating to the control and management of the Engineering Profession in Trinidad and Tobago, the Board of Engineering recognizes the significant contribution of the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards in the preparation and dissemination of standards for materials and processes and in the preparation of codes and practice guidelines for various engineering disciplines.  In these matters and particularly in the establishment of codes of practice, there has been a strong and long standing partnership between the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards, the Association of Professional Engineers and the Board of Engineering over the many years since the formation of the Bureau.  The Board of Engineering wished to give tangible recognition to this contribution to the practice of engineering in Trinidad and Tobago and presented to the TTBS the Board’s 1999 Appreciation Award for the work  by the Bureau over the years.

10.0  Finance and Administration

                The accounts of the Board have been audited up to the end of 1998 and the 1999 accounts will be audited during 2000.  During 1999 the office accommodation was expanded and new computer facilities installed.  Day-to-day operations are handled by the Registrar/Secretary on a voluntary basis.  He is ably assisted by the Board’s office secretary and the Hon. Treasurer provides financial oversight on behalf of the Board.

The administration of the Board not only services the individual needs of the over 600 registered engineers but also serves the many Committees of the Board as well as ancillary activities in which the Board becomes involved as a corporate citizen.  As the numbers of registered engineers increase and as well, the CPD activity, the Board will be looking at the feasibility of increasing the paid full-time capacity in the Registry/Secretariat.   

11.0         Vision 2001               

During 2000 the Board will be looking forward to finally getting the Engineering Profession Amendment Bill before Parliament.  The Codes and Standards Committee will be continuing their work and in particular there will be a focus on the following:- 

-         Guidelines for the Distribution of Water and Wastewater

-         General Conditions of Contract for Building Works

-         The National Building Code

-         The National Plumbing Codes

            -     Drainage Code

            -     Structural Codes

-         Fire Systems       

In support of the registration of engineers the Board will work with the NTA and other agencies to promote the licencing of technicians and the supporting trades. 

Awarding one or more engineering bursaries at UWI will be pursued.

11.1    Archive Project

            The Board has a vision of creating archives of the major engineering works which have been carried out in T&T.  For a small country with very limited trained human resources these projects have been and are outstanding.  Not only the engineering designs but the management, negotiating and financial structuring experiences must be collated and organized to become part of the national patrimony.  This must be done before some of the main actors depart this stage.  The main factor in this project is funding and the Board in 2000 and into the new millennium will continue to promote the concept of national engineering archives.

11.2            Trade-In Services

Trade-In Services continues to be the fastest growing area of World Trade and in the Caribbean there is beginning to be an appreciation of this sector as an area of economic growth.  With that appreciation has also come attempts to understand and organize the professional services sub-sector. 

In the Caribbean region T&T is best placed to be a provider of engineering services for export.  The Board has begun discussion with the Caricom Secretariat, the Caribbean Export Development Agency, the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Trade and Industry in T&T with a view to assisting their efforts as they move toward creating enabling infrastructure for joining the global trade-in services and of interest to local engineers, opening up opportunities for export of engineering services from T&T.

            Back to Activities Contents