Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah
Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly has emerged as the top performer in the Western Region’s Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) Spatial Planning League dubbed “Efie-ne-fie”.
The metropolis scored 79 points, while Wassa Amenfi Central District came last with no point because they failed to present documents for verification.
“Efie-ne-Fie” is the Western Region’s collaborative and participatory strategy for achieving community-level spatial planning by the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District planning authorities.
The ranking was revealed at the seventh meeting of the Western Regional Spatial Planning Committee. This followed a comprehensive compliance monitoring exercise aimed at assessing the performance of the MMDAs in fulfilling their spatial planning functions.
Funded by the Inter-ministerial Committee for Decentralisation through the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA), Accra, the exercise was aimed to identify capacity gaps, training, and logistical needs of the Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs) and MMDAs.
It also sought to provide the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority with adequate information for policy formulation.
The study found significant deficiencies in both human resources and equipment, essential for the optimal operation of Physical Planning Departments (PPDs).
It also indicated a low commitment from many MMDAs to funding spatial planning activities.
This lack of funding has led to several issues, including the unavailability of spatial plans, haphazard development, and inadequate spatial databases, which are crucial for improving Internally Generated Fund (IGF) revenues.
The Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, who chairs the Regional Spatial Planning Committee, emphasised that the performance ranking should not be seen as an attempt to criticise MMDAs.
“It’s a call to action for the Chief Executives to provide necessary resources to their physical planning departments.
“These departments hold significant potential for enhancing the internally generated revenues of the assemblies,” he pointed out.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi