Walk down the streets of our cities. You will find evidence of poor planning; lack of enforcement of planning laws. The planning of our cities appears not to be working. The issue of planning comes up on air almost every day.
I don't want to worry you today you with such discussions. But I think you would like a real talk on controlling haphazard developments in our cities. So I have taken my time to transcribe a conversation between a building inspector and an eminent chief.
Building Inspector: “Nana who sits in the Chair and elders who have met here today, we have some areas that don’t have layouts. As field officers, we often get problem with developers. It is the responsibility of some chiefs to see to it that Town Planning do layout for their areas before they give the land out to developers for their projects. But in some areas such layouts do not exist so we are suffering.
Secondly, there areas that the layouts maybe there, but the purpose of the land, for instance, school sites, nature reserves, are not followed. Though there is a procedure to follow if you want to change the use of such public lands, but some chiefs don’t do it and they sell it to developers. You the field officer, when you go and ask, you find that they don’t even have proper land papers. When they come to the office, they tell stories. When you ask them to stop work they don’t. If you go and demolish it then it will be bringing a case.
All the numerous floods that flood our cities are as a result of these things. The place is a nature reserve, but a certain chief will collect someone’s money and will give him the land to build a house. When it rains the course the water must take, it can’t take because the building has blocked it. Someone who has bought the right land would then be flooded.
Nana, please, speak to some of the chiefs who know these things but don’t do the right thing so that we too can work effectively for the region to move forward.”
Eminent Chief: “First of all, you say you work with the Development Control Office of the KMA. One, KMA is governmental statutory creation. We use laws as to how the KMA manages the affairs of the locality. Rules, everything is there, enabling Act to back you up.
Two, the same KMA has been given the mandate to create by-laws.
Three, the same Local Government Act gives them a mandate of a Committee basing from the Constitution to implement and execute those regulations and bylaws. What are you sitting there for? It is bribe and corruption that you meddle in. You are afraid to pull those buildings down. Have you seen Accra? Have you seen it? Since the new MCE took over, have you seen what is happening? At my place, I have given them the right to go ahead. They are starting. Those buildings on rivers, demolish, pull them down. There are bylaws about these matters. So evoke your bylaws.
Secondly, if you find any chief going against the laws, report that chief to Otumfuo, even me. As I am sitting here, ‘sebe sebe sebe’ who am I not to listen to him? He is my Asantehene. Whether it goes up or it comes down. So report those sub-chiefs to the Allodial owner of the land. If it is in my town, bring the case to me and we shall not spare those sub-chiefs.”
Thank you.
