The Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines is rigorously undertaking a comprehensive project dubbed "Land Use and Management Project" to reform the land administration system in the country to meet the current trends of economic revolution.
The project is a component of the Land Administration Project which seeks to enhance the capacity of the Town and Country Planning Department at both the regional and district levels to enable it carry out its responsibility relating to effective and efficient land use and planning system in the country.
Giving the general overview of the land situation in Ghana at a media briefing in Accra yesterday, Ben Doe, Deputy Project Manager noted the widely held perception that land planning agencies have failed the country hence the need to embark on the land use and management project to rectify the situation.
According to Mr Doe, the project seeks to address key areas including absence of a comprehensive human settlements policy for land use planning and management for the country; develop and draft a coherent and modernised legal framework for town and country planning including model guidelines and regulations; prepare and implement institutional reform and strengthening which includes capacity building and develop information/public awareness campaign strategies and materials to support the implementation of the reformed planning systems, among others.
The project emphasises a participatory planning approach that involves all stakeholders affected by planning including land owners, business leaders, District Assemblies, Land developers, NGOs, community members, opinion leaders and recognised community based organisations and associations.
"The basic assumption is that if we plan with the stakeholders in the community and they are fully aware of the plan, they and the land owners and traditional chiefs accept it, then they will be most likely to ensure that 'illegal' developments do not get off the ground and working with the building inspectors, can nip any such construction in the bud, before more draconian action needs to be taken," Ben Doe emphasised.
Officials say they have begun a pilot work of the project to develop and test models and processes of the land use planning and development controls in partnership and active participation of the communities and customary land owners in three areas namely, Asankragua in the Western, Ejisu in Ashanti and Kasoa in the Central Regions.
According to them, based on the success story of the pilot phase, ten new communities across the ten regions of the country have been selected and will undergo institutional planning and reformation processes.
The land use planning and management project which is being funded by a grant from the Nordic Development Fund is expected to be completed in 2010. It is aimed at assisting the Town and Country Planning Department which is at the centre of land use planning and development in the country, to enhance its capacity and improve service delivery in the country.
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