Town Country Department to issue building permit in three
months
Accra, June 18, GNA – Dr. Alfred Vanderpuije,
Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive (AMA), on Thursday tasked
the Town and Country Planning Department, to issue building
permits within three months, in order to reverse the long
waiting period by applicants.
“Develop effective mechanism to deal with all administrative
bottlenecks and human impediments that inhibit and prolong
the process of issuing building permits.
“The Assembly has resolved that any officer who without any
justifiable reason causes delay in the process of
development application will be penalized,” Dr Vanderpuije
said.
The AMA Chief Executive stated this during interaction with
some religious groups and journalists as part of a series of
educational campaign initiated by the Assembly, to sensitize
identifiable bodies on the pending decongestion exercise in
Accra.
He said issue relating to permit acquisition was an
essential aspect of the computerization, numbering and
naming of streets and houses in Accra.
Dr Vanderpuije said naming and numbering of the properties
would help easy location, effective management of water and
sanitation as well as improvement of revenue collection.
The day was set aside to educate leaders of religious bodies
to school their congregation on the need to keep the city
clean and the importance of decongestion to facilitate
development.
He said the proliferation of unauthorized structures like
kiosks and containers had debased the beauty and status of
Accra and said some members of staff at the Sub-Metros who
issue illegal permits to people were part of the problem.
“Officers who give out any permit other than the AMA
Planning Committee commits an offence and would be brought
to book,” he said.
Dr Vanderpuije said, while in some countries’ solid waste
was an essential commodity which attracted buyers; Ghana’s
waste had become a huge problem.
He said AMA was developing a new system for effective
collection of waste management fees.
Dr Vanderpuije said the initiative would enable AMA to
generate resources to support service delivery and reduce
the huge financial burden on government.
He emphasized that AMA was simply enforcing its bye-laws in
order to "stem indiscipline and lawlessness and make the
city governable and healthy to live in."
He said AMA had given hawkers and traders doing business on
road pavements, streets and intersections, time to relocate
to the 32 markets in the Metropolis, including the Odawna
market.
Dr Vanderpuije said the country could not afford to be left
behind in development as filth and poor waste management
served as threats to investment and tourism.
He announced a 25 million- dollar waste management project
to generate electricity as part of the Assembly’s strategy
to manage waste.
Dr said as part of the educational campaign, the Assembly
had met with stakeholders including corporate organisations,
heads of the various markets, the business community and
officials of People with Disability.
He said among the projects pioneered to develop the
metropolis include the Urban Environmental and Sanitation
Project, where about 4.3 kilometre roads in some communities
including Ckorkor, Dansoman, would be tarred.
As part of the project about 32 schools and a number of
places of convenience would be built whilst the Chemu lagoon
would be cleaned.
Maulvi Dr. Wahab Adam, Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission
in Ghana pledged the support of the religious bodies towards
AMA’s efforts to rid the city of hawkers and filth.
GNA
