Accra Mayor Inaugurates 2021 FIG Conference Committee…First Time Event In Ghana

Accra Mayor, Hon. Mohammed Adjei Sowah, earlier this week joined the Ghana Institution of Surveyors to officially inaugurate the Local Organizing Committee meant to steer affairs of the 2021 Conference of the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) scheduled to be hosted by Ghana.

The FIG conference is the global conference of the premier international organization International Federation of Surveyors (FIG).

It provides an international forum for discussion and development aiming to promote professional practice and standards.

In his official address, Hon. Adjei Sowah bemoaned the practice where investors were always driven away due to the hell they go through before acquiring lands for projects.

He said the country is fast losing its cities due to poor planning and called on the surveyors to use the conference period to lead a common voice for change in this agenda.

This, he said, would go a long way to benefit Ghana because the expertise of the surveyors would help assist the nation with proper planning of our cities.

"The built environment has taken over our sense of creating a city that is habitable and managed by all of us. I therefore urge all of you not to leave the city management task to only politicians since surveyors play critical roles in the management of cities. Our prime land is the city of Accra," the Accra Mayor said.

He bemoaned the level of chaos that has hit the city in recent years due to poor management of lands adding that a lot of lands have been encroached upon especially around East Legon.

Hon. Adjei Sowah further lamented the cumbersome processes involved in acquiring visas to Ghana.

He said this development was also not helping potential investors who knock on the doors of Ghana embassies scattered around the world.

For his part, Mr Kwasi Agyemang, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), who was the Special Guest, expressed excitement about the hosting of the conference in Ghana.

He was particularly happy about the tourism potential that the conference would offer the local folks.

He, however, bemoaned the outrageous increment of food items, goods and services by the hospitality industry in an attempt to cash in during international conferences.

FIG represent the interests of surveyors worldwide. It is a federation of the national member associations and covers the whole range of professional fields within the global surveying community. It provides an international forum for discussion and development aiming to promote professional practice and standards.

FIG was founded on July 18 1878 in Paris by delegates from seven national associations - Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and Switzerland - and was known as the Fédération Internationale des Géomètres.

This has become anglicized to the International Federation of Surveyors. It is a UN-recognized non-government organization (NGO), representing more than 120 countries throughout the world, and its aim is to ensure that the disciplines of surveying and all who practise them meet the needs of the markets and communities that they serve.

The FIG vision
A modern and sustainable surveying profession in support of society, environment and economy by providing innovative, reliable and best practice solutions to our rapidly changing and complex world, acting with integrity and confidence about the usefulness of surveying, and translating these words into action.

The role of FIG
FIG’s activities are governed by a work plan, which is approved by the General Assembly and reviewed by Council as its tenure progresses. The current work plan with the motto “Ensuring the Rapid Response to Change Ensuring the Surveyor of Tomorrow” guides Council, Commissions, Networks and Task Force in their activities.

FIG supports the role of a prosperous and sustainable profession of surveyors to provide solution functionality, reliably, affordably for a complex and rapidly changing world that cannot wait, and to translate a sustainable development agenda into action.

FIG supports international collaboration among its members for the progress of surveying in all its fields and applications. FIG has a close cooperation with United Nations relevant bodies, World Bank, and its sister associations and has been globally recognized as the leading international non-governmental organization on geospatial information and the management of “land”, the “sea” and the “built” environment. It is within the surveyors’ task to determine the size and shape of the earth, to map its surface and to manage it in a sustainable way.

FIG is a United Nations and World Bank recognized non-governmental organization of national member associations and covers the whole range of professional fields within the global surveying community.