Assemblies move to tackle unplanned urban growth

A day’s stakeholders meeting to help tackle the rapid unplanned urban growth with the associated challenges of slums, flooding and inefficient social services delivery has been held in Kumasi.

This is being done through the “Urban Back-Up Initiative” a collaborative effort of the Cities Alliance (CA) and the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to build the competencies of the districts to effectively carry out their day-to-day tasks.

Local government representatives from targeted beneficiary metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies including Swedru, Wa, Tamale, Techiman, Suhum, Cape Coast, Bolgatanga, Aflao, Elimina and Kumasi participated.

The goal was to develop the frame work for the actualization of the Initiative and its integration into the spatial planning and development agenda of the assemblies.

Mr Samuel Sarpong, the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), said the initiative which is designed to offer expertise and support to enhance the planning and implementation capacity of the assemblies could not have come at a better time.

He said the nation could not afford to wait and allow the development of slums, patchy social services delivery and other ills to get out of hand.

Mr Sarpong said the time to act was now to restore some level of orderliness and sanity.

The initiative, he noted would undoubtedly help them to better manage urban development within the broad national development framework.

The Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS), implementing agency for the initiative, estimates that about 45 per cent of urban dwellers live in dirty and poor settlements.

Mr Bless Darkey, the Project Manager for Initiative, said the expectation was that this would become an anchor for the successful implementation of the National Urban Policy and Action Plan.

Source: GNA