Geographic Information System data hub opens in Cape Coast
A newly refurbished Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data hub for the Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD) has been inaugurated in Cape Coast.
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The facility will ensure the transformation of towns and communities, fast data storage and retrieval of geographic information for land-related departments and district assemblies in the region.
It will also be used to train district planners in the use of GIS for developing locally based spatial plans and as an ongoing regional GIS support facility for districts in the Central Region to ensure effective planning of communities.
The Sustainable Fisheries Management Project (SFMP) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) rehabilitated a section of the TCPD in the Central Region and equipped it with computers, software and a networking system, an upgraded electrical system air-conditioning and security bars to be used as the GIS data hub.
The National Director of the TCPD, Mr Lawrence Dakurah, in an address, said the GIS data hub was essential to push the agenda of the department and propel effective town planning for national development.
He stated that the Land and Spatial Act passed by Parliament in July was awaiting Presidential accent.
“With the passage of the law, anyone one who sells or buys a piece of land without a plan would have gone against the law and is culpable,” he stated.
He called for a maintenance plan to ensure the place was kept active and working for a long time.
Better community planning
Mr Brain Crawford, the Chief of Party of the SFMP, said the hub provided for the Western Region and its successes in respect to planning communities necessitated the provision of the data hub for the Central Region.
He said the centre would provide planners with adequate skills to deliver spatial planning services.
He said the SFMP was committed to ensuring integrated fisheries management which included helping to plan communities where the fisherfolk lived.
Mr Crawford noted that the fisherfolk remained one vulnerable and high risk group because their communities were usually flood-prone.
He said rising tides were increasing and becoming more severe and frequent due to global warming.
“Eroding shorelines will be accelerated in the coming years and its not going to go away,” he said, and called on geological institutions to warn people of high rising tides and expected events to help mitigate the risks.
Plan communities, reduce poverty
Mr Brain Conklin of the USAID Economic Growth Office said the United States was working to support efforts at ensuring secure livelihoods for many communities to reduce poverty.
He was hopeful that the facility would help improve planning and prevent disasters.
Mr Joe Appiah, the Chief Executive Officer of Pentax Consultancy, who chaired the function, noted that poor planning was a crucial issue of concern in the country, complicating the nation’s problems of under-development, and expressed optimism that the facility would help better the situation in the region.