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Environment Minister inaugurates 17-Member LUSPA Board

Accra, Nov. 05, GNA – Dr Kwaku Afriyie, Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, has inaugurated a 17-Member Governing Board of the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA).

The Board is under the Chairmanship of Professor Kwasi Kwafo Adarkwa, a former Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

Other members include Mr Seth Osei Akoto, National Technical Director, Ministry of Food and Agriculture; Dr Kodjo Esseim Mensah-Abrampa, Director-General, National Development Planning Commission; Mr Ebenezer Sam, Ministry of Works and Housing; Naa Puowele Karbo III of the National House of Chiefs and Dr Joseph Kwaku Amaglo, Ghana Institute of Surveyors (GhIS).

The rest are Mr Kwadwo Yeboah, LUSPA; Madam Suweibutu Adam, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources; Mr Kwabena Agyepong, Ghana Institute of Engineers (GIE); Maame Ama Edumadze-Acquah, Office of Administrator of Stool Lands; Mr Michael Kofi Mensah, Ghana Institute of Planners and Mr Jones Ofori Boadu, Lands Commission.

Others are Dr Christine O. Asare, Environmental Protection Agency; Mr Philip Lartey, Ministry of Roads and Highways; Mrs Lydia Essuah, Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation (MESTI); Mr Samuel Seth Passah; Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development; and Nana Akua A. A. Oppong-Birmeh, Ghana Institute of Architects.

Dr Afriyie tasked the LUSPA Board to ensure the visibility of the Authority to Ghanaians; adding that, the LUSPA Board was one of the strongest boards one would imagine in the country in terms of the array of professionals of the highest level.

He said the Board had a lot of things to do; declaring that the Authority was created not long ago, so it had got a lot of teething problems to deal with, especially at the operational levels.

He said the Authority had a shared mandate with the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization, and Rural Development, which operationalizes a lot of things that LUSPA does.

Dr Afriyie said the Board’s important task was to activate the LUSPA Fund, which they have to do together with the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization, and Rural Development.

Prof Adarkwa on behalf of his colleagues expressed gratitude to the President for reposing confidence in them and appointing them to steer the affairs of LUSPA for the tenure in accordance with Article 5(2) of the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, 2016 (Act 925).

He said the mandate of the Authority was to provide for sustainable development of land and human settlements through a decentralized planning system.

He said human settlements in Ghana were challenged with unplanned and spontaneous urbanization.

He said this had resulted in many slum dwellings with their attendant poverty, insecurity, poor housing, and general environmental conditions.

He said additionally, the recent proliferation of “kiosk estates” in parts of Accra was a consequence of unplanned urbanization.

“All told, such unplanned and unsustainable spatial developments put a dent on LUSPA being the mother authority in charge of all physical and spatial developments in the country,” Prof Darkwa said.

He said it was mindful to note that ensuring orderly spatial development largely depends on the guidance provided by LUSPA through its structures and systems.

“For this reason, it is important that all stakeholders support this important role of LUSPA,” he said.

“With the help of all relevant stakeholders, we will jealously guide this role by becoming increasingly more proactive and effective in planning to prevent situations such as the proliferation of “kiosk estates in the capital and other major cities.”

Source: Ghana News Agency

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