The Chairperson of Parliament’s Select Committee on Lands and Forestry, Francis Manu-Adabo, has called on the revenue arm of government, GRA, to deploy geospatial data to support the mobilisation of property tax.

He believes that investment in geospatial data is required to fast-track revenue generation efforts and aid national development in the country.

Speaking on the side-lines of the first Annual General Meeting and Conference of the Ghana Geospatial Society, on November 28, Manu-Adabo questioned why the State Housing Cooperation in particular does not deploy geospatial data when advertising for their houses.

“State Housing Cooperation advertises their houses. Why don’t they display the houses at various locations through geospatial technology? It is not difficult; it is in the interest"

“One of the main reasons Ghana should invest in geospatial data is that there are so many houses in the country that we don’t even know their locations to impose taxes. Many houses exist, but if you fly the entire country to gather geospatial data, will you find it?…” he asked.

He continued, “No matter where your house is hidden, it will be revealed. This way, the district assemblies can go to all those places to mobilize taxes to build the country. Therefore, geospatial data is crucial for the work of GRA.”

Geospatial data includes information related to locations on the earth's surface.

The data can identify objects, events and other real-world phenomena to a specific geographical area identified by latitude and longitude coordinates.

MA/AE

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