The land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA) has held a stakeholder meeting with relevant land sector agencies to discuss crucial issues bordering the production of accurate and current base maps to aid effective spatial planning in the country. This forms part of effort by the collaborating agencies to bring their diverse expertise together to tackle land use and development challenges in the country.

The Director for spatial planning at LUSPA, Mr Chapman Owusu Sekyere in his opening remarks explained that base maps were required for effective spatial planning since it gives important physical details of the area and provide location references for land features among others. He added that the lack of current base maps had made spatial planning difficult and expressed the expectation that the collaboration would provide the solution to the existing situation.

Mrs Florence Lamptey in her presentation on behalf of licensed Surveyors Association of Ghana (LiSAG), noted that there was urgent need to address the challenges in land use planning at the local level and that required strong collaboration among land sector agencies. She assured Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority of the association’s readiness to collaborate with all relevant institutions to provide the requisite base maps for effective land use planning and sustainable land administration in the country.She added that the cost for preparing base maps was high and institutional partnership would help to develop appropriate modalities for funding to prepare them.

Participants were from Survey and Mapping and Public Vested Land Management Divisions of Lands Commission, Office of Administrator of Stool Lands, licensed Surveyors Association of Ghana and LUSPA.