By Emmanuel Gamson
Takoradi, May 24, GNA – The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) has emerged as the top performer in a Spatial Planning League for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Western Region.
It scored 79 points to top the league table of 14 MMDAs, with Shama District scoring 76, and Effia Kwesimintsim Municipal Assembly scoring 65 to emerge second and third, respectively.
At the bottom of the ranking was Wassa Amenfi Central District, which scored no points at all for failing to present documents for verification.
The Spatial Planning League, dubbed: “Efie ne Fie”, is the Western Region’s collaborative and participatory strategy to achieve 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, following a comprehensive compliance monitoring exercise to assess the performance of MMDAs in fulfilling their spatial planning functions, as mandated by Act 925 and L.I 2384.
The review period spanned 2022 to the third quarter of 2023 and included all 261 MMDAs nationwide.
Funded by the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Decentralization through the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA), the exercise sought to identify capacity gaps, training, and logistical needs of regional coordinating councils and MMDAs.
It also sought to provide the LUSPA with adequate information for policy formulation.
At the end of the exercise, some significant deficiencies in both human resources and equipment were revealed, which were essential for the optimal operation of Physical Planning Departments.
It also showed a low commitment of some MMDAs to funding spatial planning activities, leading to unavailability of spatial plans, haphazard development, and inadequate spatial databases, among others, which were crucial to improving Internally Generated Fund (IGF).
It was, therefore, recommended that Physical Planning Departments must be provided with sufficient resources by their respective Assemblies to effectively carry out their mandates.
MMDAs should allocate a portion of their IGF generated from physical planning activities specifically for spatial planning purposes, and that they should be better informed and educated about their spatial planning functions to improve compliance and effectiveness.
Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, the Western Regional Minister, also the Regional Spatial Planning Committee Chairman, said the performance ranking should not be seen as an attempt to criticize MMDAs, but a call to action for the chief executives to provide the necessary resources to their physical planning departments to do more.
“These findings from the monitoring exercise highlight the urgent need for systemic improvements in the spatial planning framework to ensure sustainable and coordinated development across the country,” he said.
GNA