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02.03.2023 Social News

Physical planners, surveyors asked to team up

Physical planners, surveyors asked to team up
02.03.2023 LISTEN

The Sunyani West Municipal Director of Physical Planning, Ms Gifty Nyarko, is calling for closer collaboration between physical planners and surveyors to ensure the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal Eleven (SDG 11).

She said while surveyors play very important role in city planning and its development, planners, on the other hand, translate the plan unto the ground for effective implementation of the local plans, saying “Planners need surveyors to translate the plan unto the ground for effective implementation of the local plans."

Ms Nyarko told the media at Odomase, near Sunyani, that surveyors also bring the resurveyed plan to the planner “and if this collaboration is strong, it will go a long way to reduce the rate of haphazard developments in the country.”

She said even though there is a clear difference in the duties of planners and surveyors, “some planners have now turned themselves into surveyors and the vice-versa and this could be a contributing factor to the haphazard developments in a lot of the newly developed parts of our cities and towns."

She said the problem in question is further reinforced by land owners and some traditional authorities who usually misconstrue development permits to evidence of land ownership documents such as indenture, statutory declarations, title deeds and leases authorization to prospective developers to build without due regard to the District Assembly which is the highest planning authority.

Again, some traditional authorities and land owners assume themselves as planners and surveyors.

She accentuated the fact that; the duty of a planner is different from a surveyor although the functions of the two professionals are complementary in nature.

Ms Nyarko therefore pleaded with land owners and traditional authorities to "avoid the use and services of quack surveyors."

Richard Kofi Boahen
Richard Kofi Boahen

Bono, Bono East and Ahafo CorrespondentPage: RichardBoahen

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