Institute of Planners urged to support government to address dev't challenges

The Vice-President of the Anglican University College of Technology, Professor Kwasi Nsiah-Gyabaah, has urged the Ghana Institute of Planners (GIP) to support the government and city authorities to address development challenges facing the country.

He said as development planners, the input of the association was necessary to ensure sanity in the country’s growth process “because the aim of planning is to put in order what is in disorder or disarray.”

“As planners, you must be able to contribute your quota to solving our challenges for accelerated growth,” he added.

Event

Addressing the 46th annual general meeting of the GIP in Accra yesterday, Prof. Nsiah-Gyabaah said “If you go to every district, there are planners and if we are not able to direct development then we must question our relevance today.”

The two-day meeting was held on the theme “Planning for sustainable development of affordable housing development in Ghana.”

It allowed members to take stock of challenges confronting sustainable and affordable housing development in the country and how to improve on the situation.

Observations

Prof. Nsiah-Gyabaah further observed that multiple sales of lands and problems associated with increasing urban growth as well as the rising spate of violent activities by land guards were becoming a national security threat.

He added that housing was a critical sector but for many years it had not received priority in the development agenda of the country.

“Out of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 13 are related to housing, which is the most important basic need in every community which we have been neglected for years.

According to Professor Nsiah-Gyabaah, “in tackling the concerns of housing, it may require not only scientific and technological capacity but also changes in policy, shift in investments and adequate approaches to planning.”

Policies

In an address read on his behalf, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, said Ghana was one of the few countries in Africa that had developed a national urban policy and action plan as well as a national housing policy and a draft national slum upgrading strategy.

“Issues such as slum upgrading, people living in vulnerable communities or disaster-prone areas and livelihood improvement have been largely incorporated into these policies,” he said.

The minister called on stakeholders in the sector, especially members of the GIP, to collaborate with the government to ensure effective regulatory and monitoring mechanisms within the housing sector.

Concerns

For his part, the National President of the GIP, Mr Alfred Kwasi Opoku, expressed concern over the practice where permits were granted to people to put up structures, including fuel stations at unauthorised locations.

He said such practices were posing danger to life and property, citing the latest gas explosion incident at Atomic Junction in Accra.