Ejisu – September 30 – October 2, 2019: The Office of the Head of the Local Government Service (OHLGS) has organised an orientation training for Six Hundred and Forty-Two (642) Physical Planning officers working at the District Assembly level. The training was to help the officers familiarise with the sector within which they work.
Opening the workshop, the Head of Service, Ing. Dr. Nana Ato Arthur said the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority contribute immensely to the overall development of localities as such he entreated the officers to discharge their duties diligently and selflessly to meet the aspiration of the citizenry and in accordance with the service delivery standards of the LGS.
He was hopeful that, the integration of the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority and the Department of Parks and Gardens will strengthen land administration, settlement planning and management of localities across the country.
In a solidarity message, the Executive Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Co-ordinating Committee on Decentralisation (IMCC), Ing. Salifu Mahama, called on LUSPA to reach out to the OHLGS on tools and policies that can be deployed to build the capacities of Physical Planning officers to effectively lead the management of physical space on behalf of Assemblies.
Other speakers at the programme included, the Acting Co-ordinating Director of the Ashanti Region Co-ordinating Council (ARCC), Emelia Botwchey, Acting Director of Parks and Gardens, Mr Charles Okine and the Chief Executive Officer of the Land Use and Spatial Authority (LUSPA), Mr Chapman Owusu- Sekyere. Also present were the Acting Chief Director, Mr James Oppong-Mensah and some senior officers of the OHLGS.
The Physical Planning Department was created through a merger of the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority at the district level and the Departments of Parks and Gardens.
The officers were trained on the country’s decentralisation and local governance system. Another area emphasised was the LGS Policy Frameworks including the HR Policy; Code of Conduct; Conditions of Service; Staffing Norms; Service Delivery Standards; Operational manual for the Physical Planning Department; Administrative Procedures and Reporting Relationships as well as Inter-Service and Sectoral Collaboration and Co-operation System (ISSCCs) and the Staff Appraisal Tool.