Bolgatanga, Aug. 3, GNA - Mrs Lucy Awuni, Upper East Deputy Regional Minister, has urged Municipal and District Assemblies in the region to create land banks and ensure the proper layout of lands for the orderly development of the area. She said poor planning of settlements had led to the encroachment of lands reserved for road construction. It also encouraged indiscriminate siting of structures and houses, resulting in floods that caused deaths and loss of property.

Mrs Awuni made the call at a day's meeting on land use plan and land banks, organized by the "Tindamas" Association (or Custodians of Land) for land users, land planning officers, and other stakeholders from the region in Bolgatanga. The event, sponsored by the Business Sector Advocacy Centre (BUSAC), was aimed at encouraging stakeholders to establish land banks and design land use plans for the development of the region. Mrs. Awuni said the haphazard way houses were built had also prevented the Ghana National Fire Service from effectively fighting fire outbreaks, and appealed to land users, especially private land developers, to ensure that their transactions were in conformity with plans and layouts of the assemblies.

She noted that the high demand for land and poor succession plans had often degenerated into problems after the death of incumbent land owners. Mr. John Atia, Executive member of the Association, urged land owners to support land planning officers to find lasting solutions to problems regarding land ownership. Mr. Robert Ajene, a retired educationist from the region, urged the participants to ensure that women in the area owned land for economic activities, particularly after the death of their husbands. He cautioned the people against the random sale of lands since it could affect the welfare of their children in future. Participants were taken through topics including "The Need for Land Use Planning and Creation of Land Banks in the Upper East Region", and "Land Banks in Upper East Region-The Way forward".