Seth Acheampong Charged Chief Executives To Sanitise Built Environment

The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr. Seth Kwame Acheampong has charged all 33 Municipal and District Chief Executives in the region to take steps to ensure that land developers follow building regulations in their various assemblies.

Section 94 of the Local Governance Act 2016 (Act 936) provides enforcement in respect to unauthorised development.

Addressing the meeting the first meeting of the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council (ERCC), Mr Seth Kwame Acheampong said no physical construction should take place without an authorization from the assembly, emphasizing that, if this this is done religiously, it would reduce haphazard development and prevent disasters.

“I believe we are all aware of the worrying trend of the collapse of some buildings in Accra and other parts of the country where some lives were lost,”
He said the situation has been a big cause of worry for building and engineering professionals as well as local government authorities.

According to him, many people are wondering, “Do these buildings have permits from the assemblies?” The District Assembly is designated as the Planning Authority under Section 82 of the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936).

The minister indicated that it was the job of the assemblies to verify that developers respected construction regulations, emphasising, “Once again, I want to charge the Municipal and District Chief Executives, who are chairpersons of the Spatial Planning committees, to ensure that sanity prevails in the building space.”

The meeting had in attendance Chief Executives from the 33 Municipal and District assemblies, during which various departments of the districts, and municipalities made presentations.

The Eastern Regional Development Planning Officer, Dr. Audrey Smock Amoah presented the District League Table (DLT), an annual assessment conducted by the National Development Planning Commission in partnership with UNICEF, and the University of Ghana.

She indicated tha the DLT rates districts based on the well-being of their residents and intends to motivate the government and its municipal and district councils to take action to promote better prioritising and fair resource distribution.

The Planning Officer mentioned the approach used in compiling the DLT as desk review and technical workshops; data collecting, cleaning, and standardisation; factor analysis; and principal component analysis.
The New Juaben South Municipal Assembly was ranked ninth out of 261 districts in Ghana and ranked top position among the 33 districts in the Eastern region.

Chief Executive of New Juaben South Municipality, Mr. Isaac Appaw-Gyasi said the feet chalked by his assembly was as a result of collaborative efforts. support and sacrifices by the staff of the assembly and residents of the area.

“We need to sustain the status, make sure we don’t drop down, and rather improve to be first on the list among the 261 districts,” he said.