Local Gov’t Minister says living conditions in Ghana’s rural areas improving faster

Living conditions in Ghana’s rural areas are improving faster than in the urban centres, the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Baba Jamal, claims.

He mentioned, for instance, that currently the urban areas were worse off in the provision of basic amenities like toilet and water facilities, a situation that had contributed to the significant migration from the rural to urban areas.

Ghana was about 80 per cent rural and 20 per cent urban in 1960 but the figure is now 52 per cent urban and 48 per cent rural, he said.

Mr Jamal, who was speaking at the opening of the 2013 second national urban forum at Ejisu, near Kumasi, said it was to address the challenges confronting the development of the cities and urban centres that the National Urban Policy and Action Plan was developed by the government about two months ago.

The forum was aimed at affording stakeholders in the urban development sector the opportunity to dialogue on urban issues with the view to reaching consensus on how to tackle the challenges.

It was on the theme: “The new national urban policy—implications and challenges for Ghana’s urban development.”

“The policy of government is to use urbanisation as a catalyst for economic growth, social improvement, cultural enhancement and environmental sustainability,” Mr Jamal said.

Ghana, he stated, was seeking to collaborate with her development partners and other stakeholders to effectively implement the policy.

The Deputy Minister said Ghanaians needed to start discussing urbanisation as a national issue so that pragmatics actions could be worked out towards sustainable urban development.

He specifically tasked metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) to pay serious attention to urbanisation and ensure that money given to their respective assemblies for capacity building was used for the purpose.

“If you want quality, it should come from quality personnel,” the deputy minister said.

In a speech read on his behalf, the Senior Presidential Advisor and Chairman of the National dDevelopment Planning Commission (NDPC), Mr P.V. Obeng, noted that rapid urbanisation was becoming a major development challenge in the management of Ghana’s cities and other urban communities.

“Indeed, no one can really foresee the quandary in which Accra, Kumasi, Sekondi-Takoradi and other large centres would find themselves in 10 to 30 years if efforts are not made to put in place an effective urban governance and management system,” he said.

Mr Obeng added that government was playing a pivotal role in ensuring that urban planning, legal and institutional framework became an instrument of prosperity in urban centres.

The Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Yaw Adusei, expressed delight that the national urban policy framework had a poverty reduction element in it.

He said accelerated development could not be achieved on a silver platter and therefore urged all stakeholders to work hard in ensuring a workable urban policy.

Source: Daily Graphic