By Godfred Aaneamenga Polkuu, GNA
Bolgatanga, July 03, GNA – Dr Eva Akanchalabey, a Development Planning Officer, has called for long-term and well-informed infrastructural planning in the Upper East Region.
She urged authorities to learn from past mistakes and invest in projects that could withstand future population growth.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga, Dr Akanchalabey said infrastructure development should be approached strategically because of its high cost and long-term implications.
“As a people, we have to look first at what worked in some places and what did not work, then we will be able to diagnose well so that we will not repeat the mistakes of the past,” she said.
The Development Planner, who is a Senior Programme Officer at the Tamale Ecclesiastical Province Partnership in Action (TEPPIA), noted that infrastructure projects required significant financial investment and should therefore be designed to last.
“Infrastructure is capital-intensive. Because we are poor, we should consider our status and do it well so that the infrastructure can stand the test of time,” she stated.
Dr Akanchalabey stressed the need for planners to anticipate future demographic changes.
“The infrastructure you are putting up today, you should be thinking that population is not static. Population is growing, so it will be there to meet even growing populations in the future,” she added.
Commenting on the challenges affecting infrastructure planning in the Upper East Region, she said the issues were beyond politics and included social and demographic factors.
“There are a number of factors that are lacking,” she explained, and pointed to the region’s ethnic and linguistic diversity as one of the challenges in mobilizing communities around development initiatives.
“When you come to Upper East, how many ethnic groups do we have? If you want to mobilize the people to rally behind you and give you support, it is very difficult”.
Dr Akanchalabey contrasted the situation with the Upper West Region, where she believed greater linguistic homogeneity had contributed to easier coordination of development efforts following the split of the former Upper Region.
She also acknowledged that political commitment remained important but said the region’s historical lack of natural resources had limited development opportunities.
“The political will is also something, but we are also a region that should consider that we didn’t have many resources until of late,” she said.
According to her, recent discoveries of gold deposits in the region presented a new opportunity for development, provided lessons were learnt from mining communities elsewhere in the country.
“We now know that Upper East Region has gold, and our gold is richer than even other areas in the country. So, we should look at what didn’t go well in those areas so that we will not repeat the same thing in Upper East Region when it comes to infrastructure development,” she said.
On the increasing number of fuel filling stations being established within residential communities, in the region, especially in the regional capital, Dr Akanchalabey attributed the situation largely to weaknesses in land-use planning rather than the actions of individual developers.
“Most of the owners of the filling stations acquired their lands before. I think there is an institutional gap because if we had done proper land-use planning, places would have been designated for specific developments,” she explained.
She said the absence of clearly designated land-use zones had allowed private landowners to sell property for developments that may not be suitable for residential neighbourhoods.
Dr Akanchalabey urged authorities to strengthen planning systems, enforce zoning regulations and adopt a long-term approach to infrastructure development to ensure sustainable growth in the Upper East Region.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/George-Ramsey Benamba
Reporter: Godfred Aaneamenga Polkuu
Email: [email protected]