Ghana is developing national spatial planning framework

Ghana is developing national spatial planning framework

DEMOLISH SLUMS, GHANA INSTITUTION OF SURVEYORS CHARGE

President of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors,James E.K Dadson

The new President of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors (GhIS), James E.K.Dadson has warned that if steps are not taken to remove slums from prime areas Ghana cannot achieve the desired level of sustainable development

Speaking to the media after a thanks-giving service to round off the 8th Annual Surveyors Week in Accra, Surveyor Dadson said to embark on massive urban renewal to ensure that to neighbourhoods become fit for habitation and conduct of human activities.

The 2013 Annual Surveyors’ week celebration centred on urban renewal and sustainable re-development of Ghana’s cities.

The celebration also aimed at drawing government’s attention to the problem of urban decay and the development of slums with a view to finding lasting solutions to undesirable elements such as slums, traffic congestion, and the menace of old and dilapidated buildings in the city centres.

Surveyor James E .K. Dadson noted that Ghana has not managed its’ urban development well over the years.

‘Every land and what it’s supposed to be used for. If in the opinion of the experts, if a particular land use is not beneficial, we will have to relocate it and put it to a use that will be beneficial to society. You cannot have a slum in an area that has very high land value.’

Animals competing with humans for space at Sabon Zongo,Accra.

The new president of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors stressed that  landowners, property developers  and the general public who want to register or acquire property must engage the professionals who have been trained in that area if they want to get value for money.

He added that even when the Survey Council bill, which is now before parliament  is passed, it will still require the enforcement of the law to ensure that Ghana’s urban centres are congenial places to live in and work.

 ‘ I think the most important thing is not having the law, but rather being able to enforce the law. That is the key. We can have all the laws in this country but if we don’t enforce them we will not benefit from the gains from these laws. In the past we have not been law abiding. We think that all of us, the judiciary, the law enforcement agencies, the professionals, civil society our land owners, all of us must realise that  if we are not prudent in the way we manage our land resources, we will end up hurting the environment and the human beings that live on the land.’

2013 WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY

Fresh fruit being sold  in the open.Most go to waste due to poor storage.

This year, June 5 was marked across the globe as World Environment Day, focussing on the theme ‘Think. Eat. Save. Reduce your foodprint.’

According to the UN Environment programme, UNEP, more than one point three billion tons of food valued at 1 trillion US dollars are lost or wasted each year by consumers, retailers and the hospitality industry.

This is equivalent to the same amount produced in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, 1 in every 7 or 900 million people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of 5 die daily from hunger.  

Food waste is an enormous drain on natural resources and a contributor to negative environmental impacts. 

For example, it takes about 1,000 litres of water to produce 1 litre of milk and about 16,000 litres goes into a cow’s food to make a hamburger. The resulting greenhouse gas emissions from the cows themselves, and throughout the food supply chain, all end up in vain when we waste food.

In fact, global food production occupies 25% of all habitable land and is responsible for 70% of fresh water consumption, 80% of deforestation, and 30% of greenhouse gas emissions. It is the largest single driver of biodiversity loss and land-use change.

A UN report released on June 4 2013, says that supporting smallholder farmers to play a greater role in food production and natural resource stewardship is one of the quickest ways to lift over one billion people out of poverty

Most of the 1.4 billion people living on under US$1.25 a day live in rural areas and depend largely on agriculture for their livelihoods, while an estimated 2.5 billion people are involved in full- or part-time smallholder agriculture. 

Smallholder farmers provide over 80 per cent of the food consumed in large parts of the developing world, particularly Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

A previous study showed that a one-per-cent increase in agricultural per-capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reduced the poverty gap five times more than a one-per-cent increase in GDP in other sectors, especially amongst the poorest people.

However, increasing fragmentation of land, reduced investment support and the marginalization of small farms in economic and development policy have hampered the development of this vital contribution and left many smallholders vulnerable.

Current practices are undermining the ecological foundation of the global food system through overuse and the effects of agricultural pollution, thereby enhancing degradation, reducing ecosystem capacity to generate sustainable yields and threatening to negatively impact food security and poverty reduction. 

Aside from the moral implications of such wastage in a world where almost 900 million people go hungry every day, unconsumed food wastes both the energy put into growing it and the fuel spent on transporting produce across vast distances.

Food preservation is an effective way of saving food and preventing it from being wasted or lost. In Ghana, Nigeria and other West African countries, cassava tubers are processed  into gari, which can be stored for long period.

Restaurants, traders and individuals regularly dump their wasted food in skips like this one at Mamobi Market,Accra.

CHRAJ SLAMS GHANA'S WAR ON CORRUPTION...'we pay lip service'

CHRAJ SLAMS GHANA’S WAR ON CORRUPTION.

A Deputy Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Richard Atta Quayson says Ghana has over the years paid lip service to the fight against corruption.

Speaking at the launch of the country review of the implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in Accra, Mr Atta Quayson said, as a nation, Ghana has learnt no lessons from her encounter with the canker of graft.

Quoting former UN Sec General Kofi Annan, the Deputy CHRAJ commissioner said poverty hurts poor people in developing countries more disporportionatley by diverting scarce resources intended for development and making it difficult to meet  their fundamental needs such as food, health and education.

 Mr Atta Quayson stressed that while no nation has escaped the ravaging effects of the canker of corruption, some have shown that they have learnt their lessons. Regrettably, he noted, the same cannot be said for Ghana.

‘I would like to reiterate that Ghana must begin to demonstrate that it has learnt its lessons from corruption. We have turned a blind eye too often to corruption. We have encouraged corrupt practices too often to gain political advantage. We have paid lip service for far too long. It is time to act decisively’

Corruption in Africa, the Deputy CHRAJ commissioner, who is also the Chairman of the Ghana Review Committee says, is deeply rooted in weak institutions, processes and the capacities of African countries.

‘The UN recently disclosed that political corruption alone costs governments about 1 point three trillion US dollars every year. …Many public officers, either before or after performing a public duty, expect a motivation or 'thank you' in material form: weight, money and hampers at Christmas among others. Whether Ghana has learnt hard lessons from being hospitable to corruption is a matter for us all to ponder’

Richard Atta Quayson said the UN Convention against Corruption, which Ghana ratified in 2007, has adopted the use of prevention, education and law enforcement as the best approach to fighting graft across the globe.