Engineering: issues, challenges and opportunities for development ...

ENGINEERING: ISSUES CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT Remains of Tonga shopafter fire, the tilt-slab firewallsurvived but the internal concreteand steelworks collapsed.© A. Cleland - Arthur Budvietas & Fisilau Leone Fire spread to timberframe of Tonga Co-operativeFederation, destroying thethree storey complex.© A. Cleland - Arthur Budvietas & Fisilau LeoneEngineers Australia showed that more than 70 per cent oforganizations in Australia employing professional engineersexperienced engineering skill shortages in 2007 and 82 percent of those reported incurred cost increases and projectdelays because of shortages.In many respects, Australia shares the problems faced by otherdeveloped countries:■■Climate change including scarcity of water, increasing temperatures,rising sea levels and extreme weather events.Energy market restructuring and pressure to change theenergy mix.■ Neglected investment in infrastructure such as roads andports.■ Unsatisfactory health and telecommunications facilities.■■■■A shortage of affordable housing.Declining enrolments in science subjects in schools and difficultiesin the tertiary education.An underlying skills shortage, particularly in the engineeringsector.Skilled migration has increased, although internationalshortages reduce its effectiveness and emphasize the ethicaldilemma of recruiting engineers from developing countries.The engineering profession in Australia is very active internationallythrough the Association of Consulting EngineersAustralia (ACEA) and the Association of Professional Engineersand Scientists (APESMA), as well as Engineers Australia.In the last few years we have provided the president of FIDICand now WFEO. Australian engineers are also very active inthe national Registered Engineers for Disaster Relief (RedR)and Engineers Without Borders (EWB) organizations. CSIRO,the federal government’s national research organization, hasdivisions in many engineering-related areas such as energy,transport, communications and climate modeling. EngineersAustralia is prominent internationally in engineering educationaccreditation through the Washington Accord and inengineers’ mobility though the Engineers Mobility Forum andthe APEC engineer agreement.Major efforts are being made by government, industry and theengineering profession to resolve the problems that Australianengineering is facing, and to overcome the expected long-termeffects of skills shortages.South PacificAndrew Cleland and Leiataua Tom TinaiIn Samoa, and the same may well apply to other nations, theterm ‘engineer’ is generally taken to mean, say, a car mechanicor somebody that carries a pair of pliers in their back pocket.People know what a teacher does, what a lawyer does, whata medical doctor does, what an accountant does and whata policeman does. When you mention the word ‘engineer’,the same people hesitate (and sometimes ask ‘Can you fix mycar?’). This is a key challenge for the engineering profession inthe islands of the Pacific and we must inform people what it isthat engineers do.South Pacific island nations vary in size from close to onemillion people (Fiji), through those of the order of 50,000 to250,000 people (such as Vanuatu, Samoa and Tonga) throughto small nations of less than 20,000 people (Cook Islands) andvery small nations of less than 10,000 people (such as Niue).A typical South Pacific nation has one or more main islands,with a number of small islands scattered over large expansesof ocean.The extent of engineering infrastructure varies; main islandsoften have reticulated water and electricity, but wastewatertreatment systems can be localized. Diesel generators are acommon source of electricity across the region. Telecommunicationssystems on main islands are generally of good quality.Radio is used between smaller islands. Airports are of generallygood quality and many smaller islands have landing strips.Road quality depends on the suitability of local materials.There are few multi-storey buildings and building materials areoften imported. Timber-framed houses with metal roofs arecommon, whereas commercial buildings are increasingly builtof concrete. Port facilities are progressively being upgradedfrom wooden to concrete structures. The South Pacific islandsoften suffer major infrastructural damage during cycloneswhen disruptions to power and water supply, and damage tobuildings, ports and roads is common.Historically, infrastructure development was funded throughforeign aid, particularly from Australia and New Zealand. Australianand New Zealand standards have been used as the defacto standard for construction projects through the supervisionof projects by engineers from the donor nation. Morerecently, capital for infrastructure has started to come from awider range of sources, including the private sector, and fundingagencies have not necessarily required adherence to internationalstandards. This has created a greater need for localregulation of standards.The Pacific Island nations of Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu andCook Islands (the Polynesian Pacific family) and their engi-228