The National Engineering Coordinating Team (NECT) has issued a strong warning to people who have encroached on road reservations to remove their properties or have to face the full rigors of the law.
Citing the recent development on Ayi-Mensah to Akuapem road, where people are developing close to the road along the Akuapem ridge, the National Chairman of NECT, Dr. Ing. Kenneth Ashigbey said such structures would soon be demolished as they pose a great danger to motorists, road users, and the residents.
This statement was made at a stakeholders engagement where MDCEs, Physical Planning Officers, Building Inspectors, Heads of Departments, Executives of the Regional Engineering Co-ordinating Team, the National Petroleum Authority, Agencies and Institutions on Land Use and Spatial Planning met at Koforidua to discuss and sensitize participants on the need to act quickly to address the issue.
Dr. Ashigbey urged the Regional Engineering Coordinating Team (RECT) to work hard to clear the illegal structures and heed the call to prevent its occurrence in the future, knowing that posterity would not be kind to them if they fail.
He said Rapid urbanization was fast becoming a development challenge in the management of Urban Settlements in Ghana, therefore, there was the need to call for urgent measures to be put in place for effective and efficient land use and spatial plans to guide physical development
The Honourable Eastern Regional Minister, Mr. Seth Kwame Acheampong, was hopeful that the outcome of the stakeholder engagement, in addition to the implementation of the already existing plans at the Assemblies, could spearhead the revolution for achieving success in the region which may be used as a benchmark for the development of other regions in the country.
He urged all stakeholders to get themselves in readiness to meet the challenges posed by rapid urbanization, adding that the Eastern Region and its proximity to Accra, the national capital, has become the target for estate developers, and called for urgent measures to be put in place for effective land use and spatial plans to regulate physical development.
He assured the stakeholders that the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council would offer all the necessary support to the team and M/DAs in the region in their efforts to right the wrongs.
The Regional Director of Ghana Highways Authority, Ing. Patrick Okoto, addressing the media, said, the indiscriminate developments without recourse to adherence to planning regulations leading to urban expansion, slums, and squatter settlements were a matter of great concern.
In his presentation, the Regional Director, of the Department of Urban Roads, Ing. Samuel Mensah entreated service providers; Electricity Company, Water Companies, the Telecommunications company, etc to collaborate with road managers and District Assemblies before installing their service lines to prevent the roads from destruction as a result of their frequent maintenance work.
He consequently urged the media to partner with RECT in ensuring that through public education and awareness creation, sanity would prevail on our roads and the communities.
He noted that sections 34 and 83 of the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, 2016 (Act 925) mandate the Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to execute spatial planning functions through effective land use planning and management with the purpose of fostering sustainable development of human settlement, judicious use of land and overall socio-economic development of the Districts.