The Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Mahama Ayariga, has bemoaned the many number of agencies from different ministries handling land and its related issues in the country.
He observed that such situation impedes the process of finding solutions to problems that emanate from the sector.
Over 16 agencies regulate and manage land, water and other natural resources in the country.
[contextly_sidebar id=”MDyiOu6KXQVnhPrey7TKDjehmvaIj8om”]Mahama Ayariga while speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, blamed the issue on leadership failure and described it as “institutional disharmony.”
He said in a attempt to build strong institutions, his outfit has formulated a bill which will harmonize the roles and duties of all the agencies for timely intervention to problems.
Ayariga said the bill will soon be presented to Parliament.
His comments come on the back of widespread pollution of water bodies across the country because of activities of illegal miners and the drying up of some water bodies in the country due to unfavorable weather conditions.
Mahama Ayariga added that the Land Use and Spatial Development Authority Bill seeks to ensure a timely intervention to problems in the sector.
“This week, the land use and spatial development bill is going to parliament. In that bill, there is an effort to harmonize the institutions where we make all these institutions part of the governing board, so that together we can take collective decisions on land use and spatial development of any given space in the country; so that the conflicts that we have, where institutions undermine each other would be addressed.”
“There was an institutional disharmony and based on that also, different pieces of legislation dealing with the same issues but in different ways so that is also being harmonized...there is a part of it that can be attributed to leadership failure but when you operate within a system of rule of law where institutions matter…you cannot overlook the importance of having such institutions well designed and based on proper legal framework,” he added.
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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana