By Moses Amweelo IT is very important for society to acknowledge the achievements of its members, and it is fitting to recognize these members in order to record the achievement of excellence in the collective consciousness of people. The public acknowledgement of these achievements thereby become the inspiration to future generations, to strive for excellence and to positively contribute to the development of society. It is fitting to combine these events (Namibia Institute of Architects and members of the Construction Industry) so that those who conceive the buildings and those who make the buildings in which we live and work are acknowledged on the same forum. Sir Winston Churchill once said: “We shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us.” When one considers the profound impact which the building environment has on all members of society – from the young child in the rural areas, who needs shelter, education and health care to the workers, entrepreneurs and officials who need suitably functional space in which to make their contributions towards the development of society, everyone needs buildings that successfully respond to very specific requirements. The creation of such buildings is never easy. While available resources tend to become increasingly scarce on the one hand, the functional requirements tend to become increasingly complex. This results in ever-increasing demands, for innovation and commitment from those who design the buildings, as well as those who make the buildings. When our colleagues therefore produce buildings that not only meet the minimum requirements, but goes further to produce exceptional results, we as the beneficiaries of those committed efforts and talent should pause to give credit and to be inspired for the benefit of our future. As a young nation by any standards, Namibia has few institutions driven by volunteers that can claim a continuous history over half a century. The fundamental value of this achievement lies in the fact that the institute has managed to keep pace with a vastly changing context over the last more than 50 years. In 1952, the disastrous socio-political experiment which became known as Apartheid, had just started in South Africa. For close to forty years, the Institute operated under this increasingly limiting regime with its apartheid planning policies. While much of the architecture unavoidably conformed to the attitudes during this period, there were a few notable exceptions both in the buildings that were created and in the refusal of some of its members to accept the limitations. More appropriate would be to note the enthusiasm and commitment with which the Institute embraced the opportunities that emerged with Namibia’s independence. In less than 12 months, the Namibia Institute of Architects became a full member of the International Union of Architects (IUA), the Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA), the African Union of Architects (AUA) and the SADC Union of Architects. While this placed considerable demands on the human and financial resources of a small Institute, the entire membership had the vision to realize the long-term benefit to Namibia of fully participating in these global continental and regional forums. At the time, the Namibia Institute of Architects (NIA) could lead the far bigger South African Institute of Architects in a small but meaningful way along their path of re-integration. When the international donor community became active in Namibia, they required the services of well-qualified, experienced and professional architects to implement many development projects. I am very proud to know that they found a body of architects that were willing and able to take on the challenges of nation building and that there was little need to import expatriate skills. Namibia today is full represented on the governing bodies of some of these international organizations. Training and Accreditation of the Builders I believe that the development of building construction and maintenance builders will eventually contribute to better value for the building users and to higher levels of worker competence and thereby the increased profitability of our companies. Furthermore, the builders we are planning for will make our Namibian construction companies more competitive both nationally and internationally. For a long time, we have selected our building construction and building maintenance workers on a trial and error basis; this has been costly to construction companies and unsatisfactory for many of the workers involved. What I am suggesting here is a list of the operational competencies required of workers who can be accredited as building construction and building maintenance builders. Such competencies shall be written up by our consultant engineers in a series of competency-based job descriptions that will be built into a career structure for all builders-level occupations in the building maintenance and building construction industry. The finalized curriculum will be submitted to the Polytechnic of Namibia for accreditation and will be of such a standard that it may be used to enter diploma level courses in related areas of study. This pattern of accreditation was developed in Namibia and applied to the fisheries inspectors and observers course. SADC members have accepted the fisheries inspectors and observers’ course as the “course of preference” for training many fisheries inspectors and observers for the SADC region. We wish the same high standards for the builders for building construction and building maintenance. It is also to be hoped that among the competencies we identify, will be the “profit motive”. This motive needs to be applied by builders as they develop their business thinking and apply it as they build and maintain our national buildings. Later, training providers will be identified and accredited so that the quality of our building construction builders is assured. In addition to training courses, a procedure for the recognition of prior learning will be implemented. This procedure recognizes pre-existing competence so that individuals do not have to undertake courses in areas where they have already achieved the industry standard. With the advent of competent builders their role in building construction and maintenance will need to be considered as a contractual arrangement. This is no small matter we are embarking upon but one which we have looked forward to for some considerable time, therefore I wish all builders great success in their endeavours now and in the future to seeing the results of their efforts. Some Challenges for the Future With its proud history, the Namibia Institute of Architects is in an excellent position to increase and expand its efforts in the following areas: – The education and training of young Namibians on an equitable basis in the field of architecture and related disciplines. Our buildings are like blood vessels in our bodies. Just as our health depends on the well-being of our blood vessels, socio-economic development in our country is impossible without good and well-maintained buildings. In order for the managers of our building construction industry networks to optimize the meagre resources available in our country for spending on building construction and to maximize the condition of our buildings, constant training and capacity development is necessary. But we also know that our needs exceed our capabilities. Maximum benefits must therefore be derived from any training opportunity made available. – The creation of opportunities for more young Namibians from previously disadvantaged groups to become registered architects. – The continuous pursuit of developing a unique Namibian architectural style harmonizing the best of modern technology with the virtues of traditional Namibian buildings and materials. – The promotion of skills and services to neighbouring countries, especially Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. I believe that many of our architects, builders, quantity surveyors and consulting engineers have already taken on these challenges, and I think that the Institute itself can play a role in assisting our neighbours with their considerable development needs. – Finally, I wish to congratulate those architects and builders, including their workers who were involved with the awarded and successfully completed projects. We wish you all the best with your future challenges, and we look forward to your valuable contribution to the development of the Namibian society in 2007.