By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA
Accra, April 30, GNA – Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), has urged Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to establish designated auto zones as part of efforts to restore discipline and order in the country’s spatial planning system.
Speaking at a media briefing on NDPC’s Strategic Regional Engagements in Accra, Dr. Thompson described the growing trend of indiscriminate car sales across the country, describing it as a manifestation of lawlessness that undermines national development.
He explained that the uncontrolled spread of car dealerships into public spaces has worsened flooding and environmental degradation, as open lands are paved over with concrete, leaving little room for water absorption.
Dr Thompson, also Presidential Advisor on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), stressed that auto zones would bring order, protect the environment, and ensure safer communities.
He cautioned that the absence of proper spatial planning forces government to divert resources from critical sectors such as education into disaster relief and relocation efforts.
Beyond auto zones, he highlighted broader structural challenges facing Ghana’s development agenda, pointing to persistent disconnects between national plans and budgets, as well as between spatial planning and sectoral planning in agriculture, industry, and services.
He revealed that NDPC has begun engagements with the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA) to bridge these gaps, ensuring that the physical manifestation of development is clear, orderly, and disciplined.
The Chairman of NDPC assured that the Commission was working diligently to fulfill the President’s mandate of consolidating multiple fragmented development plans into a coherent national framework by the end of the year.
He noted that discipline in both spatial and sectoral planning was central to achieving sustainable development and meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
GNA
Edited by Linda Asante Agyei