The Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah has asked Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to institute the necessary steps to support the implementation of the guidelines on street naming and property addressing system for the country.

He said the existence of an effective street naming and property addressing would enhance service delivery, facilitate effective and efficient management of municipal services and promote business operations.

The system will also be the platform where all address details can be obtained by relevant stakeholders to contribute to national development efforts and better management of the cities, towns and other settlements.

Dr Agyemang-Mensah was speaking at the launch of the national policy document and operational guidelines on street naming and property addressing system in Ghana, at the jubilee park in Kumasi at the weekend.

He said in the past, some MMDAs in their attempt to provide street names and property addresses have adopted different approaches leading to confusion and making things difficult for visitors, utility and other service providers to properly identify specific locations.

The Regional Minister attributed this to the lack of any clear national policy or guidelines to ensure uniformity in property identification in cities and urban communities in the country.

He commended the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and foreign partners, for coming out with the document to provide a common system of identification of streets and property for the MMDAs in the process.

Mr Peter Fricker, a representative of USAID/Ghana, said the success of the policy implementation would depend on some major issues including geographical identification system, training of personnel, provision of ICT equipment and leadership support from the MMDAs.

Mr Samuel Sarpong, the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), said street naming and addressing system is a fundamental system for any service delivery to improve lives in communities.

He said with dedication and commitment, every effort and the needed adjustments would be made to make the system work effectively to suit the policy.

Oheneba Adusei Poku, Akyimpemhene, who represented the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, said the implementation of the policy was overdue.

He indicated that the policy would help to control estate developers and also act as a check on those who build in waterways and other unauthorized areas.**