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02.10.2012 General News

Ghana Institute of Architects is 50

By GNA
Ghana Institute of Architects is 50
02.10.2012 LISTEN

Accra, Oct. 1, GNA – The Ghana Institute of Architects (GIA) has launched its 50th anniversary in Accra on Monday with a call on Architects to form a strong force to influence the building industry.

Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, who made the call, said his heart bleeds when he sees the deteriorating nature of our cities, especially Tema Communities.

The week-long launch and exhibition was under the theme, “Integrated Development in Ghana – The Architects' Focus.

The Minister said when “we were young and we were schooling in Tema, every community in Tema had a playing field, but every little space was sold out for development.

My hearts equally bleeds when I see the sort of filth engulfing Accra city. All these problems came as a result of improper planning of our cities,” he said and urged the architects to work with the District assemblies to ensure that planning was well done at the grassroots."

Mr Mensah said Ghana has all the beautiful laws in this world but the problem was how to implement them because of politicization of issue in the country.

“Another problem had to do with our chiefs; they sold out every little space within their jurisdiction. When you go to South Africa although the land is in your jurisdiction, you cannot touch it without official permit. It is time we learn from them and ensure that we go through the appropriate channel to acquire building permit.

“Your celebration takes place at a time of unprecedented challenges as the issue of shelter and increasing traffic congestion in our cities and the growing problems of developmental control, have been of increasing concern to the general public, ,” he said.

He said he hoped that the celebration would provide the needed platform for architects to re-connect with their own institute, share in its history, meet with business partners, acquire essential market insight, and keep abreast of the latest trends and products in the building industry.

Architect Adotei Brown, President of GIA, said architects had contributed significantly to national development, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s when many Ghanaian Architects, both locally and foreign trained, were engaged by developers in the development of social housing right across the country, in the regional capitals.

He said a good number of office accommodation, also designed and supervised by local architects, now adorn the skyline of towns and cities in both high and low-rise developments.

He said it was regrettable though, that since the completion of Job 600, in the design of a few, buildings of national importance that had been put up, over 50 year of the GIA's existence, namely the Accra International Conference Centre, the new Flagstaff House and the Foreign Affair Complex. Local architects were not given the chance to participate in the designs.

Architect Brown therefore called for the design of all important national building to be made the subject of a design competition, as a national policy, so that the best ideas could be obtained.

“We are the custodians of the part of planet earth which we occupy. We are all aware that we are fast depleting the natural resources which have been left in our care. In some cases, we are not managing these resources in the most efficient manner.

“While our populations are increasing rapidly, our water resources are depleting or becoming polluted at an alarming rate. Where we can store or recycle water, we seem to have turned our backs of age-old and beneficial practices of rain-harvesting and recent water-cycling developments,” he said.

He, therefore, advocated for the need to develop a new industry to focus on the manufacture of materials, such as ceiling panels and flooring to reduce the countries over dependence on imports.

There were fraternal speeches from Institution of Surveyors, Nigeria Institute of Architects and Ghana Real Estate developers (GREDA).

GNA

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