The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Akwasi Oppong-Fosu has said that from September 2014, Ghanaians should expect to see positive results from ongoing exercises to name streets nationwide.
“Towards September, we will see the signage and the address plates on the walls of buildings,” he said when he took his turn at the Meet the Press series in Accra on Tuesday.
In March 2013, President John Dramani Mahama directed the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development to ensure that all streets nationwide were named within 18 months.
The President gave the directive while launching the National Urban Policy Framework and Action Plan.
State officials say, the street naming exercise, when completed, will provide a platform for proper identification of all physical structures around the country and enhance revenue mobilization and collection. It will also facilitate development in various local assemblies and create the necessary platform for effective accountability.
“We have a road map to the deadline,” Mr. Oppong Fosu said. “We had to do some training based on the street naming and property addressing policy manual. We have done the training program for the regional technical teams doing the backstopping; we have done the training for the officers in the assemblies.”
“On the road map, we are to supply equipment to the assemblies in May. These are computers and other equipment like GPS,” he added. “Once we supply the equipment, the team working on the street naming exercise will stay in their offices and identify all the properties, give them the numbers and then the field work will start.”
Later, he said, there will be “field work in July” and “will see the address plates [fixed] on the walls of buildings”
By: Magdalene Larnyoh/Citifmonline.com/Ghana