Stakeholders engage on Accra structural plan
STAKEHOLDERS working on the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) structural plan have met in Accra to deliberate on the final draft and seek inputs for the implementation of the plan.
The meeting was to ensure that all stakeholders understood the project and bought into it.
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The GAMA project is a component of the Accra Urban Transport Project which was being implemented by the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA) in collaboration with the Department of Urban Roads (DUR).
It was envisaged to ensure spatial sustainability in the GAMA when implemented and was also expected to ensure that the spatial conditions of Accra could enhance its power to generate social, economic and environmental value and well- being.
This report is a combination of work done over several months with engagement with all stakeholders, institutions and Individuals.
Participants
Among the participants were planners from the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) from GAMA, representatives from the Department of Urban Roads (DUR), as well as the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), the Hydrological Services Department, NADMO and the LUSPA.
The Director of the Department of Urban Roads, Mr James Amoo Gottfried, in a speech read on his behalf, said land use and transport integration had been considered a must have approach in achieving sustainable urban development.
He anticipated that in the area of road transport, the structural plan was finalised with focus on transportation plan which shifted from the traffic based perspective to a mobility segmented and accessibility based perspective.
He said a look at the draft report on accessibility, connectivity and mobility identified the number of objectives and proposals that when implemented would go a long way to address issues on accessibility, connectivity and mobility.
Some of the objectives, Mr Gottfried listed, were to promote transportation demand management, promote parking strategies that manage supply and demand efficiency, promote and support existing road capacity to service new development, improve existing road infrastructure, complete the existing road system and promote road way and street way design based on the surrounding contest.
The Urban Roads director hoped that once the plan was approved, every stakeholder involved in its implementation would support it to ultimately achieve the vision of GAMA by 2040.
A Senior Transport Infrastructure Engineer at the African Development Bank (AfDB), Mrs Sheila Akyea, indicated that the bank was happy not just to be part of the stakeholder engagement but to have supported the government of Ghana through the Ministry of Roads and Highways and the Local Government and their agencies such as the DUR and LUSPA to develop the GAMA structural plan.
She said a planned functional city helped to alleviate the challenges of rapid urbanisation which included inadequate infrastructure and services, uncontrolled urban sprawl, rise of slum and squatter settlements, poor sanitation and flooding with associated risks to health and productivity.
These, she said, further led to increase social, economic and environmental deterioration.
She was ,therefore, confident that the master plan would contribute to effective urban planning and further enhance stakeholder coordination in the urban space.
Mrs Akyea expressed the hope that the outcomes of the plan would spearhead the revolution of achieving success in the development of the capital and also be a benchmark for other cities in the country and beyond.
“The bank particularly looks forward to the engagement of professionals, academia, land owners and users and any other stakeholder of interest to ensure that this plan moves to the implementation phase and becomes a reality,” she added and urged all stakeholders concerned to put in an effective plan to market the ideas to government, investors, donor partners and interested parties.
The AfDB representative further said, “We need to start steadily and surely to implement these ideas so that the impact can be felt in our communities” saying “the bank was ready to engage the government and all stakeholders on how to help achieve this.”
She thanked the DUR and the LUSPA, the technical assistant and the consultant for working hard to achieve the draft final product and urged them to support the government to improve the livelihoods of the people.
Mrs Akyea further said the final product had taken care of all stakeholder needs and would have the ownership that it deserved to make it a reality.
Collaboration
A former Chief Executive of the LUSPA, Mr Lawrence Dakurah, who chaired the function, lauded the effective collaboration between the DUR and the then Town and Country Planning which became LUSPA which helped to facilitate and improved the preparation of the GAMA plan.
STAKEHOLDERS working on the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) structural plan have met in Accra to deliberate on the final draft and seek inputs for the implementation of the plan.
The meeting was to ensure that all stakeholders understood the project and bought into it.
The GAMA project is a component of the Accra Urban Transport Project which was being implemented by the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA) in collaboration with the Department of Urban Roads (DUR).
It was envisaged to ensure spatial sustainability in the GAMA when implemented and was also expected to ensure that the spatial conditions of Accra could enhance its power to generate social, economic and environmental value and well- being.
This report is a combination of work done over several months with engagement with all stakeholders, institutions and Individuals.
Participants
Among the participants were planners from the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) from GAMA, representatives from the Department of Urban Roads (DUR), as well as the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), the Hydrological Services Department, NADMO and the LUSPA.
The Director of the Department of Urban Roads, Mr James Amoo Gottfried, in a speech read on his behalf, said land use and transport integration had been considered a must have approach in achieving sustainable urban development.
He anticipated that in the area of road transport, the structural plan was finalised with focus on transportation plan which shifted from the traffic based perspective to a mobility segmented and accessibility based perspective.
He said a look at the draft report on accessibility, connectivity and mobility identified the number of objectives and proposals that when implemented would go a long way to address issues on accessibility, connectivity and mobility.
Some of the objectives, Mr Gottfried listed, were to promote transportation demand management, promote parking strategies that manage supply and demand efficiency, promote and support existing road capacity to service new development, improve existing road infrastructure, complete the existing road system and promote road way and street way design based on the surrounding contest.
The Urban Roads director hoped that once the plan was approved, every stakeholder involved in its implementation would support it to ultimately achieve the vision of GAMA by 2040.
A Senior Transport Infrastructure Engineer at the African Development Bank (AfDB), Mrs Sheila Akyea, indicated that the bank was happy not just to be part of the stakeholder engagement but to have supported the government of Ghana through the Ministry of Roads and Highways and the Local Government and their agencies such as the DUR and LUSPA to develop the GAMA structural plan.
She said a planned functional city helped to alleviate the challenges of rapid urbanisation which included inadequate infrastructure and services, uncontrolled urban sprawl, rise of slum and squatter settlements, poor sanitation and flooding with associated risks to health and productivity.
These, she said, further led to increase social, economic and environmental deterioration.
She was ,therefore, confident that the master plan would contribute to effective urban planning and further enhance stakeholder coordination in the urban space.
Mrs Akyea expressed the hope that the outcomes of the plan would spearhead the revolution of achieving success in the development of the capital and also be a benchmark for other cities in the country and beyond.
“The bank particularly looks forward to the engagement of professionals, academia, land owners and users and any other stakeholder of interest to ensure that this plan moves to the implementation phase and becomes a reality,” she added and urged all stakeholders concerned to put in an effective plan to market the ideas to government, investors, donor partners and interested parties.
The AfDB representative further said, “We need to start steadily and surely to implement these ideas so that the impact can be felt in our communities” saying “the bank was ready to engage the government and all stakeholders on how to help achieve this.”
She thanked the DUR and the LUSPA, the technical assistant and the consultant for working hard to achieve the draft final product and urged them to support the government to improve the livelihoods of the people.
Mrs Akyea further said the final product had taken care of all stakeholder needs and would have the ownership that it deserved to make it a reality.
Collaboration
A former Chief Executive of the LUSPA, Mr Lawrence Dakurah, who chaired the function, lauded the effective collaboration between the DUR and the then Town and Country Planning which became LUSPA which helped to facilitate and improved the preparation of the GAMA plan.