Ghana’s land
administration and management system is being consolidated for efficient and
transparent land delivery services under the second phase of the Land
Administration Project (LAP-2).
The
smooth coordination of the country’s land sector has been hindered by lack of
modern information management systems – conflict of
interest often ensue among government, traditional leaders and private
individuals in the acquisition of land for business or community development projects.
The
first phase of the land administration programmme, implemented from 2003-2010, sought
to establish an electronic data collection platform, which is crucial to
effective planning and policy implementation.
The
Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD) has been responsible for the Land
Use Planning and Management (LUPMP) sub-component of
LAP, which aims to develop a sustainable spatial information service.
This
involves the three- tier
planning system,
involving the preparation of national, regional and district Spatial
Development Frameworks as well as structure plans and local plans for the
regions and districts.
Chapman
Owusu-Sekyere, Acting Director of the Department, says the phase two of the LUPMP would
integrate spatial and land use planning into all levels of plans by the metropolitan,
municipal and district assemblies.
“The three- tier planning system would
be further deepened through the up-scaling of pilot activities to more areas,
and basic equipment together with the appropriate software would equally be
procured to facilitate the implementation of the new planning methodologies”, he told a
stakeholder’ forum in Kumasi.
A
three-tier land used planning model has been piloted in six districts and under
the phase two it would be expanded to cover five districts each in the Greater
Accra, Western, Ashanti and Northern regions.
Targeted
districts in the Ashanti region are Bosomtwe, Atwima Kwanwoma, Atwima Nwabiagya
and Bekwai Municipality.
Citing
of markets, recreational, religious and school sites as well as sanitation and
vehicular parks has sometimes being a herculean task is some communities.
Ashanti
Regional Director of the TCPD, Rosamund Adusei, says the project should lead to
proper citing of structures.
“The
planning itself will also be participatory”, she said. “So if you’re citing
your house and it’s close to a church which should be in the community and you
don’t want it, you don’t go in for the plot at all… it will make things more
transparent”.
The
second phase of the project will run for four years and takes full course in
January 2013.
The
second phase aims to deepening the institutional reforms, enabling the land
sector agencies to be more responsive to clients, cutting down the cost and
time of doing business and providing an enabling environment to reflect the
objective of an efficient and transparent service delivery.
Story
by Kofi Adu Domfeh
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