By Christopher Tetteh
Kumasi, (Ashanti), Sept. 15, GNA- Divisional Officer II (DOII) Anthony Appiah, the KNUST District Fire Commander in the Kumasi Metropolis has cautioned the public against putting up structures and buildings at unauthorised places.
He said that practice was bad because those structures hindered the service’s emergency response efforts whenever there was a fire outbreak and other related disasters.
DOII Appiah gave the advice when speaking at the Second Annual General Meeting and Capacity Building Conference of the Local Government Association of Physical Planners (LoGSAPP), which ended in Kumasi over the weekend.
Held on the theme: “Planning for Resilient, Inclusive, Climate-sensitive and Disaster-free Communities for Efficient Infrastructure Development and Service Delivery”, the two day-conference was attended by physical planners, government agencies, academia, traditional authorities, students and climate and environmental experts.
Sponsored by the World Bank and the German Development Cooperation, the AGM discussed critical issues in the nation’s physical development planning space in building sustainable and resilient communities.
It further enlightened the participants on legal regimes in the physical planning development space.
DOII Appiah called for stakeholders’ effective collaboration in decongesting cities and commended the LOGSAPP for building strong collaborations with the relevant institutions and stakeholders in the development processes.
He said physical planners ought to strengthen collaboration with state agencies and departments like Environmental Protection Authority EPA, GNFS, NADMO as well as climate, water and land experts in building resilient communities.
DOII Appiah said haphazard development contributed to flooding as well as other made disasters like the recurring market fires experienced in parts of the country.
Mrs Gifty Nyarko, the National President of LOGSAPP later told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the AGM also sought to build networks, and formulate strategies in building resilient, sustainable and climate smart infrastructural systems.
She said: “We seek to ensure that Ghana has communities capable of mitigating climate change impacts like heavy storms and flooding.”
GNA
Edited by Dennis Peprah/Benjamin Mensah