The Honorary Secretary of the Ghana Institute of Architects Augustus Richardson says the government must ensure architects are given the responsibility of spatial planning in order to make the cities and towns liveable.
Ghana’s general built environment has been heavily criticized with many saying that the lack of proper planning has seen a disorganized urban sprawl without corresponding provision of social infrastructure.
Speaking at a ceremony to by the Ghana Institute of Architects celebrate the World Architecture Day in Accra, Mr. Richardson argues that the government needs to do more to take advantage of the pool of architects in the country for planning purposes.
“Our laws typified that we should develop our country with aid with architects. Architects are people with visions that can see the future of cities. So, if you travel to other countries, you will see that the country is well ordered.
You can find out that, the architects are strongly at work. That is a function of government. The government has to use the architectural fraternity. Indeed, in today’s presentation, the minister for works and housing was here, and he mentions clearly the importance of keeping architects in the fray in helping to plan and cities and to ensure that we enforce this.
The reason why we’ve not been able to achieve all this is that we have the laws, however, enforcement is the problem.
We have cases where people design buildings, draftsmen are designing and stamping building and getting this done.
It tells you that we are a very lawless society it is not right. In no proper society would you have unqualified people shaping the society so until we begin to change that and until we begin to enforce what is right, we will continue to have the problem we have within the general society.
I think it is a matter of enforcement, I think the power is in hands of government to ensure that every MMDA has an architect or group of architects attached with. Of which the Ghana Architects have their members are up to the method and capable of assisting each MMDA to do the work they are supposed to do to ensure that we have a better and prosperous community”.
Source: citibusiness
