By Alex Yomah
The Engineering Society of Liberia (ESOL) on Saturday evening installed the eight new officials that were recently elected to steer the affairs of Liberian Engineers in Liberia for the next two years.Those installed over the weekend included, Mr. Victor B. Smith, president; Dadley D. Toe, vice president Boakai Kollie, Chief Financial officer; Jusu Wendell Holmes, Assistant for Certification and Licensing and Ms. Jocelia Jaywloh Tarplah, Assistant for programs, Research, Training and Institutional Development.
The Engineering Society of Liberia comprises of all engineers including civil and mechanical engineers operating in Liberia with a core function of certifying engineers who are to operate in Liberia.
In the keynote address, N. Hun-Bu Tulay, applauded ESOL for the peaceful conduct of the election and admonished the newly installed officials to recognize the work of their predecessors and to begin at where their predecessors ended.
The professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Liberia told the gathering that ESOL is not a political institution and as such, implored the new leadership to avoid undermining one and other; noting that if they are to succeed, they must desist from condemning predecessors.
Prof Tulay urged the ESOL new officials to work on the successes or attainments as well as assess the challenges of the outgoing leaders so that they can develop in becoming successful leaders.
In an exclusive interview with this paper following his official message, the president of ESOL, Victor Smith, vowed to revamp the society by ensuring that all ESOL members are in full recognition of past leaders adding that the role of the institution is not just to vet and certify qualified engineers in Liberia but to seek legislations that will ensure that before any engineer gets contract, the government must ensure that the hiring company be in compliance with ESOL’s by-laws.
Mr. Smith asserted that every engineering company must be certified and that he is also seeking legislation for ESOL be a part of any infrastructural contract which among other things are intended to avoid the erection of substandard structures and also to give respect to Society.