The Omanhene of the Juaben Traditional Area, Daasebre Professor Oti Boateng, has stated that land surveyors are the catalysts in the development of the oil and gas industry in the country. He said without the surveyors reaching the logical pinnacle of the industry it would always become illusive as their work began from exploration through exploitation till the oil field was abandoned after all the resources had been exhausted.

He said for the oil and gas industry to grow to positively affect the life of Ghanaians, the role of the surveyors was of paramount importance and, therefore, they could not be ignored. Delivering the keynote address at the 2011 Annual Land Surveyors Seminar organised by the Ghana Institution of Surveyors, Land Surveying Division in Accra yesterday, the Omanhene said that before an oilfield was acquired the boundaries of such fields must be precisely delineated. He said the surveyor was needed to determine the exact position of the field for seismic exploration survey to be conducted.

The two-day seminar was on the theme: “ The Land Surveyor: Agent of development of the Oil and Gas Industry” He said with the acquisition of land at places where oil had been discovered for the hospitality industry and accommodation purposes, it was expected that surveyors should be the first to link the process by ensuring that the demand for land was regulated.

He said good governance in Africa was seen as a core problem, a situation which explained why African countries were still the poorest despite the abundance of resources.

He also appealed to the Lands Commission to change the name of the Survey and Mapping Division to Geomatic Engineering to reflect the modern realities, and advised surveyors that training and capacity building of their members should be a primary concern to the institution since technology changed at a faster rate.

For his part, the President of Surveyors, Mr Robert Dwamena, said as a middle-income country with a high expectation of a steady increase in revenue inflows from oil production, citizens expected improvement in the quality of their standards of living.

For that reason, he said, it was expected that the government would embark on a rapid and massive infrastructural development but indicated that that it would definitely come with challenges in areas such as land acquisition and management, payment of compensation, cost control and construction management and the negative impact on the environment.