Minister Calls For Change In Town And Country Planning Laws

Professor Kasim Kasanga, Minister for Environment and Science, on Wednesday described the laws governing the Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD) as "outmoded" saying they are not making planners responding adequately to the current challenges associated with urban growth and physical development of the nation.

He said the Acts 462, 479 and 480 of 1945, which were unaccompanied by subsidiary regulations to give effect on the ground, create serious omissions opening them to bitter complaints from the public.

Prof. Kasanga said this at the opening of a two-day national durbar for staff of TCPD in Accra. It is under the theme: "Town and Country Planning Department - An Agenda for Change".

The durbar would enable staff to assess the effectiveness of the local planning system as regards the organisational relationship between the department and the district assemblies. They would also discuss and examine the problems and performance lapses of the department and come out with a resolution on the way forward.

Prof. Kasanga said: "These laws, operating side by side with the obsolete Ordinance, create operational conflicts and weaken capability of the department to respond adequately to the current challenges associated with urban growth".

Planners have recently been criticised for alleged negligence of duty, poor performance and various unprofessional practices by the general public creating confusion and lack of appreciation of the complexity of the development management process of the department and various stakeholders.

He said re-zoning of sites by some officers of the department without the due statutory process in some regions and districts also evokes negative comments and generates into inter-departmental conflicts as well as public suspicion and outcry.

The minister noted that the green spaces and other amenity spaces were not adequately provided for in the planning schemes of most cities and towns to ensure the sustainable development of settlements through harmonizing development efforts with environmental elements. He called for the restructuring of the department to enable it to gain respectable recognition and perform effectively for the development of the nation.

Prof. Kasanga urged them to come out with recommendations that would call for the removal of all obstacles impeding the progress of work.

Mr. Edward P. Karbo, Director of TCPD, said poor logistics resource, inadequate staffing and weak legislative environment, had affected the capability of the department to perform to the satisfaction of their clients.

He said as part of its efforts to restructure the department, an attitudinal change process has been initiated for staff and the general public. He called for the support of the ministry in its programmes to restructure the department.