Government officials to be sanctioned for failing to attend workshop

The Chief Director of the Western Regional Coordinating Council, Mr. David Yaro, has expressed worry over the absence of some heads of state institutions at a workshop on Western Regional Spatial Development Framework (WRSDF).

He said that heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) were supposed to be present to provide data and vital information for the WRSDF, and therefore, their absence would adversely affect the final draft of the WRSDF.

Mr. Yaro, who chaired the workshop, requested for the names of all absentee heads in order to sanction them to serve as deterrent to others.

The Western Regional Coordinating Council, Town and Country Planning Department and COWI Consult jointly organized the workshop to solicit inputs from the various stakeholders into the newly developed Regional Spatial Development Framework in Takoradi on Thursday.

The workshop brought together participants from the Regional House of Chiefs, Regional Coordinating Council, Regional Caucus of Parliamentarians, oil companies, the Police Service. The Forestry Commission, non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations and the Information Service Department.

The WRSDF is funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development (NORAD) and is the first regional spatial development plan developed in the country.

The WRSDF would take a 15-20 year view of planning the region on proper land use, would align with the Medium-Term National Development Policy framework, and would guided by a National Technical Committee. In addition, a Regional Project Oversight Committee is also managing the WRSDF.

Mr. Prince Aboagye Anokye , the Country’s Representative of COWI Consult, which is providing consultation services to the SDF, said that the new Spatial Planning System would link up with the national spatial development plan.

He said each region would produce its own spatial development framework and link it with the national plan to ensure uniform development

Specific districts within each region would equally come out with their own SDFs, which would spell out the proper use of land in the region.

The choice of the Region was based on the discovery of oil and gas in commercial quantities, which had resulted in the increase in population and other development pressures.