The Land Sector Agencies, including the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA), the Licensed Surveyors Association of Ghana (LiSAG), Office of the Administration of Stool Lands (OASL) and the Survey and Mapping Division of the Lands Commission (SMD) have jointly launched a project on the preparation of base maps as inputs for the preparation of Local Plans in the Yilo Krobo District of the Eastern Region as part of the process of ensuring effective and efficient use of land especially within fast-growing communities.

The Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936) and the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, 2016 (Act 925) mandate the District Planning Authorities to ensure that physical developments within their respective jurisdictions are carried out in accordance with the Acts.

The Yilo Krobo Municipal Assembly in collaboration with the land sector agencies (LUSPA, LiSAG, OASL and SMD) therefore in April 2023 initiated a process to determine best practices and strategies to prepare base map as input for the preparation of Local Plans for Trom and Nkurakan, both suburbs of the Municipality.

The launch saw in attendance various stakeholders including traditional leaders, Assemblymen, opinion leaders, and community members, among others converge at the premises of the Yilo Krobo Municipal Assembly.

Mr. Chapman Owusu-Sekyere, Deputy CEO of LUSPA speaking to the press after the launch said it was the aim of the Authority to ensure orderly development of our human settlements, especially at new and emerging communities within the Yilo Krobo area, such as Trom and Nkurakan.

“We’re supporting the Assembly to carry out its mandate of preparing spatial plans to guide development to ensure healthy cities and towns.. When people from other communities visit this place, they’d be impressed with how human activities have been organized in space.,” said Mr Owusu-Sekyere.

According to him, most communities do not have any plans guiding them hence leading to haphazard development. The result, he stressed is inaccessibility to most homes, particularly during rescue operations in moments of disaster.

“Most houses in our communities are inaccessible. Occupants of such houses can’t even drive into their homes …but planning will ensure that vehicles have access to homes. It’s always difficult evacuating persons from such areas during disasters."

He called for the cooperation of members of the community during the exercise to ensure its success.

Chief of Abokobi in the Yilo Krobo Traditional Area, Nene Obuyoe III who represented the traditional council was optimistic that the exercise would help address the age-old poor planning of many communities in the country, particularly Yilo Krobo.

He assured LUSPA and all participating stakeholders of the continued support of the traditional council and urged the people to collaborate with them to ensure the success of the exercise.

Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Yilo Krobo, Eric Tetteh quoting the Act (Act 925) noted that issues with conformity to the proposals made in the spatial plans always arise in communities where local plans have been prepared without collaboration with key stakeholders.

He added that it was in this regard that the Yilo Krobo Municipal Assembly deemed it necessary and appropriate to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in the preparation and implementation of spatial plans.

According to him, it was in this regard that the Yilo Krobo Municipal Assembly in collaboration with the Land Sector Agencies including the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA), the Licensed Surveyors Association of Ghana (LISAG), Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL) and the Survey and Mapping Division of the Lands Commission in April 2023 initiated the process aimed at determining best strategies to prepare Local Plans for Trom and Nkruakan, adding that the success of that meeting necessitated the process.