Stricter penalties needed to address spatial planning violations

Dr. Stephen Saforo Yirenkyi, a recipient of the 2024 Order of the Volta – Member Award for Spatial Planning and Public Service, has advocated for stricter penalties for those who violate Ghana’s spatial planning regulations.

In an interview with Citi News after receiving the award from President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Dr. Yirenkyi attributed Accra’s recurring flooding to widespread noncompliance with planning guidelines.

As a Fellow of the Ghana Institute of Planners (GIP), he called on the government to prioritise the enforcement of spatial planning laws to curb flooding and prevent unregulated development.

“People are very deviant. They don’t want to listen to the advice we give to them. The flooding that comes our way is all because they don’t take the planning advice that we expect from them. If they take the advice, I don’t think all this will happen.

“We need to add some punitive measures to people failing to comply with the planning schemes that we give to them. Because if you don’t head to it, we as planners don’t have the whip to crack. So there must be some penalty. Severe punishment, for that matter. Because if there is a waterway and you go and build across the waterway, certainly it’s going to flood. You don’t have an option,” he stated.

He was honoured for his outstanding contributions to spatial planning and public service, underscoring his dedication to promoting sustainable urban development and advocating for effective planning practices in Ghana.