GAMA structure plan to tackle uncoordinated physical development in Accra, other areas

Mr Kwadwo Yeboah, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA), says a proposed Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) Structure Plan will tackle the uncoordinated and indiscriminate siting of structures in Accra.

He said the city was challenged with uncontrolled urban expansion, slum development and squatter settlement, and indiscriminate positioning of temporary structures, hence the need for a comprehensive plan to tackle the menace.

Mr Yeboah made the remarks at an inception workshop on the preparation of the GAMA Structure Plan, which brought together all 16 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) within the Metropolitan area.

The Plan, being developed by the LUSPA and its stakeholders, is to guide the development and redevelopment of urban management and its peripheries within the GAMA enclave.

The Structure Plan, when fully developed in an 18 month period, will promote better urban management in terms of strategic planning, implementation and maintenance of local public investments.

A Structure Plan is a long-term 10 to 15 years statutory framework used to guide the development and redevelopment of land, including future development and land use patterns, the layout of infrastructure and transportation routes.

Mr Yeboah said: “The proposed Plan is envisaged to ensure spatial sustainability in GAMA, which will ensure that the spatial conditions of Accra can enhance its power to generate social, economic and environmental value and well-being.”

He said effective land use and spatial planning led to improved economic growth and revenue generation, orderly human settlements, improved safety, convenient movements, and beautification of spaces.

He, therefore, called on local authorities to ensure proper land use and spatial planning to better the well-being of the people.

Mr Yeboah said the preparation of the Plan was timely to fulfil the legal requirement after the formulation of the Spatial Development Framework in 2017 and review the 1991 structure plan, which had outlived its usefulness.

Mrs Felicia Dapaah, Chief Director, Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council, said issues of transportation were a factor that also called for the preparation of the Plan.

She said: “Road transport issues such as less provision for non-motorised transportation, encroachments on road reservations and difficulty in protecting road corridors, especially when plans have been prepared, are recurrent matters we have been battling within our development efforts.”

“All these call for well-coordinated spatial planning efforts to bring about a more responsive development and management of the transportation system to meet the future demands for transport services in the region,” she added.

The comprehensive GAMA Structure Plan forms part of the Government of Ghana’s Accra Urban Transport Project loan agreement from the African Development Bank.