Ayariga endorses geospatial mapping, lauds Subah
Every part of Ghana needs to be covered by geospatial mapping, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Mr Mahama Ayariga, has advocated.
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“We need a proper geospatial map that gives us accurate information about the location of properties, the numbering of the properties and all information that we need, that can be used by different agencies and departments,” he stated.
Geospatial mapping involves gathering data on specific locations with the use of Global Positioning Systems (GPS), for easy identification and also to aid in planning and other purposes requiring some form of logistics.
Delivering the keynote address as the special guest at a programme to award 92 national service persons who excelled in their work under the National Service Scheme Urban Sanitation Model, Mr Ayariga said Ghana had a major problem of very bad and chaotic planning.
“Because of bad planning, there’s so much waste, disorganisation and stress all over and everybody is building everywhere. There is no rule of law, people sell playgrounds and places allocated for offices,” he stated.
Mr Ayariga said it was because of the disorder that the Land Use and Spatial Planning Law had been passed recently by Parliament, adding, however, that “laws and policies have their limits and these days technology can do so much for us.”
“Today’s world is a competitive world, nations are competing for supremacy and it is no longer about who has more nuclear weapons than the other. The game changer is; who is best able to marshal available technological know-how and apply it to the solutions of our daily problems. That is what will make a nation great and strong,” he stated.
Commending Subah Infosolutions Ltd, sponsors of the awards for their role in training of the service persons, he urged that every part of the country must be covered by the spatial mapping exercise.
Mr Ayariga said already, the Town and Country Planning Department had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Subah to develop a comprehensive national geospatial map that can be used by every agency.
“Every sector needs geospatial mapping and it will become a game changer in the country’s infrastructural development,” he stressed.
Military training
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, recommended six months military training for service persons before they were posted to various establishments.
He maintained that military training would inculcate in the graduates discipline and bemoaned the spate of indiscipline among the youth. He said the way people carried themselves showed who they were.
Mr Agbo spoke against the money craze attitude of the youth and asked them to work hard in discipline.
He refuted the widely held perception that politicians stole the money belonging to the state, saying “You think it is the politicians who are stealing the nation’s money? No. It is the civil servants.”
Investment
The Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies, Mr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, urged the service persons to make a commitment to the nation, adding that the commitment of the group was to develop and support people.
He indicated that more than $3 million had been invested in capacity building for the youth, while about $3 million would be set aside each year for the awards.
Awards scheme
Representatives of partners of the awards scheme, Mr Joe Ohemeng, for event statisticians, Deloitte and Dr Inusah Abdul Nashiru of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), outlined the rigorous selection process which involved 252 participants and validated the results as authentic before the awards were given out.
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