Departments and agencies of the various ministries are largely scattered across the regional capital, Cape Coast, with some operating in dilapidated structures, making it stressful to access their services.

The distribution of the lands, mooted by the Regional Minister, Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, is therefore intended to create a ministerial community within the Council's offices where all public services could be easily accessed.

The beneficiary institutions include the Ghana Immigration Service, Public Utilities Regulatory Commission, Food and Drug Authority, Ghana Standards Authority, and Lands Commission.

The rest are Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority, National Investigations Bureau, National Identification Authority, Ghana Export Promotion Authority, and Ghana Education Service.

The handing over was witnessed by Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, the Oguaamanhen.

The Regional Minister explained that the initiative aimed to make access to public service easy and take local governance to the doorstep of the people they served.

"We really want to improve the public sector and so let's work together and demonstrate leadership wherever we find ourselves, and let's continue to improve the decentralisation that we talk about," she said.

Mrs Assan indicated that offices constructed at the space would be timeless structures that would add to the touristic features of Cape Coast and charged the planning department of CRCC to produce aesthetic designs to create a serene environment.

"The RCC takes this very seriously and we pray that you also do same so that by the next time we meet here, we will see very beautiful structures erected here.

She urged collaborations among all the institutions to ensure that Central region becomes the best in the country. Mrs Assan called on all Ghanaians to play their part to ensure that the peace was sustained after the general elections.

Mr Bless Kwame Darkey, the Acting Regional Coordinating Director, explained that the lands were given to the institutions upon request and urged all interested public institutions in the region to do same.

"RCC has enough lands to distribute to public institutions who are ready to put up their own buildings," he stressed. He charged the beneficiary institutions to commence work immediately or risk losing the lands after two years.

Mr Darkey highlighted how the lack of office spaces for key public institutions had contributed to the slow development of Cape Coast and expressed optimism about the future of the city with the initiative.

"We are hoping that in no time, these office complexes will also give an aesthetic beauty to the environs of the regional coordinating council.

"It is our expectation that with the projects being done, public service delivery will be enhanced and that Cape Coast will take its rightful place as the city of first."

Mr Darkey served notice that the CRCC would move to retrieve all public lands that had been encroached upon and hand them over to public institutions.

Mr Daniel Agyare, the Regional Director of GEPA and Dean of the Beneficiaries Institutions, thanked the Regional Minister and the entire Council for the initiative and pledged the resolve of institutions to get to work immediately.