Surveyors delegate work to freelancers
MP urges Board to revoke licences of registered surveyors
KOTA KINABALU:
Putatan Member of Parliament Datuk Dr Marcus Mojigoh yesterday urged the Sabah Surveyors Board to revoke the licences of surveyors registered with the Board but are no longer operating in Sabah. He said the situation is akin to cheating, as the surveyors are delegating the work to “freelance technicians” when they are supposed to personally oversee whatever work they were engaged to carry out. “These people are not here but their plans are already signed. It is doubtful that they are signing the plans, so my question is who is signing the plans?” he said when met at the First Surveyors Congress at Pacific Sutera here yesterday. “This situation is not fair to their clients because when the clients go to their office seeking advice, they are not around and are instead referred to whoever has been assigned to handle the work. “These people are also depriving the local practitioners of contracts, which are becoming scarce,” he said. Marcus, a former chairman of the Board, explained that the Board’s constitution states that a surveyor must have a minimum of six months of residency in Sabah every year before the issuance or renewal of a licence to operate here. “However we find surveyors who are no longer based here but are still getting contracts. I am not happy with what the Board is doing at the moment, giving licences to people who are not operating in Sabah. “There is a need for corrective measures and for the Board to do its job in ensuring the licences are issued to surveyors who are truly qualified and meet the residential requirement,” he said. Marcus believes that nine out of the 22 surveyors registered with the Board are no longer operating within Sabah. “All surveyors must make a statutory declaration before a Commissioner of Oaths saying that they have fulfilled the six months residency before they can be issued with a licence. “The onus is on the surveyors to prove to the Board that they have fulfilled the residential requirement. These people (surveyors) are my friends, but my contention here is that they must be, professional and not cheat… it is a crime to cheat,” he said
