A new umbrella body for land and engineering surveyors has been unveiled, with leaders declaring it a “rebirth” of a profession they say has long been under-recognised despite its foundational role in national development. 

The lead convener of Land and Engineering Surveyors Institution of Ghana (LESIG), Stephen Djaba, said LESIG was officially launched as a unifying authority to bring together land surveyors, engineering surveyors, geomatic engineers, geodetic engineers, geospatial engineers and cartographers under one identity.

“Today, we are not merely unveiling an institution. We are unveiling a new chapter in the history of Ghana. We are restoring a profession to its rightful place at the centre of national development,” he underlined.

Mr Djaba traced the history of surveying in Ghana to the era of Governor Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg in the Gold Coast, noting that structured surveying systems underpinned the construction of roads, railways and planned urban settlements.

“This association has come to bring all these people together under one umbrella, so that our regulator, Survey and Mapping Division, will be able to find a way of regulating their practice very well and our ethics also will be controlled,” he explained.

Mr Djaba urged the public to recognise that when they needed to assess the safety of buildings or old structures, they should turn to professional surveyors who could provide accurate data and advice.

For his part, the Deputy Director of the Survey and Mapping Division at the Lands Commission, Mr Eric Mensah Okantey, called on the leadership of the Land and Engineering Surveyors Institution of Ghana (LESIG) to collaborate with key stakeholders to promote certified professional standards while eliminating unprofessional practices.

He said this would help restore pride and value to the profession and contribute significantly to national development.

Mr Okantey said Ghana had a relatively large number of trained surveyors, with institutions such as KNUST, the University of Mines and Technology (UMAT) and the Ghana School of Surveying producing graduates at various levels.

He noted that the country was doing fairly well in training surveyors but needed to do more, citing that the work of surveyors had not been well recognised by the state.

“So basically, we are doing quite well, but we need also to do more, right, and the work of surveyors has not been recognised very well by the state, and this is what we are trying to push,” he indicated.

He recalled Ghana’s maritime boundary dispute with Côte d’Ivoire, saying it was surveyors who had interpreted the data and demarcated the country’s territorial waters, which had helped Ghana win the case. 

“Surveying forms the bedrock of development, right so we must all understand the position of surveyors, we are talking of galamsey, you need surveyors to map,” he elaborated.