Officials call for enforcement of building regulations

Kumasi, March 19, GNA - Participants at a day's stakeholders meeting have called for the establishment of an apex body to oversee physical development planning systems.

They also called for review of laws establishing land and physical development agencies and harmonise their mandates in order to make their services easily accessible and convenient to developers. The meeting was organized by the Ghana Institute of Architects (GIA) with support from the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund. It was part of an advocacy programme by the institute aimed at seeking consensus from all stakeholders and policy makers to ensure compliance and proper enforcement of building and development controls. Participants from the GIA, Fire Service, academia, land development regulatory agencies and district assemblies attended the meeting which was under the theme "addressing the adverse impact of the non enforcement of development controls".

Professor George W.K Intsiful, Head of the Architecture Department of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), cited the National Development Planning Commission and suggested that its activities should not be directed at only economic planning but also take keen interest in the harmonious physical development planning schemes.

He said the central body should have an oversight responsibility of all agencies and harmonise their activities to ensure that proper development planning schemes were followed in the country. Mr Samuel Owusu Afram, Vice President of GIA, said the haphazard nature of physical development going on in the country called for a review of all outdated laws and regulations in the sector to make it easier for developers to comply with them.

Mrs Josephine Akoto-Bamfo, a Consultant Architect, attributed the unwillingness of developers to acquire building permits to the cumbersome and laborious procedures one has to go through before acquiring permits from district assemblies. She said there was the need to harmonise procedures by developing one standard set of regulations for all the district assemblies to operate. Mrs Akoto-Bamfo called for the establishment of a development court to prosecute people who flouted building regulations.