The President of the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry, Emmanuel Cherry, is calling on the government to strengthen the capacity of Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to effectively regulate physical development and processing of building permit applications across the country.

According to him, inadequate staffing, lack of logistics, and delays in the release of funds continue to hinder the work of assemblies, adversely affecting their ability to enforce planning regulations and supervise developments within their jurisdictions.

He noted that although assemblies have technical professionals, including architects, engineers, planners, and surveyors, many are operating with limited personnel.

"We have architects, engineers, planners, and surveyors within the assemblies, but many of them are understaffed. Some assemblies have only one or two engineers overseeing an entire municipality, making effective supervision of developments extremely difficult," said Emmanuel.

He stressed that the situation has contributed to challenges in the processing of building permits and the monitoring of construction activities.

The Chamber also expressed concern over delays in the release of budgetary allocations to assemblies, describing the situation as a major setback to service delivery.

"Without adequate funding and logistics, routine activities such as site inspections become difficult. Government must equip the assemblies, recruit more technical personnel, and ensure the timely release of funds to help them carry out their regulatory responsibilities effectively," said the President.

He warned that inadequate logistics and operational constraints could create opportunities for irregularities in the building permit acquisition process, ultimately affecting orderly development.

Emmanuel Cherry made the remarks during an event where the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry honoured Nickseth Construction Company Limited as the Best Building and Civil Engineering Company of the year 2024/2025.

Receiving the award, Nicholas Frimpong Boateng highlighted some of the major challenges confronting the construction industry, particularly delays in payments by both government and private clients.

"One of the biggest challenges in the construction industry is delayed payment. Construction is not something everyone can do without the required technical expertise. It requires skilled professionals, proper planning, budgeting, and forecasting to achieve the desired results."

He further encouraged construction firms to remain innovative, embrace healthy competition, and maintain high professional standards to drive growth within the industry.

"As a company, you must think positively, believe in competition, and continue to improve. Competition helps raise standards and ultimately benefits the entire construction sector," stated Mr. Frimpong Boateng.

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Government urged to strengthen MMDAs' power to manage building permits

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