The President of the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry, Emmanuel Cherry, has called on the government to strengthen the capacity of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to effectively regulate physical development and process building permit applications across the country.
According to him, inadequate staffing, lack of logistics and delays in the release of funds continue to hamper the work of the assemblies, affecting their ability to enforce planning regulations and supervise developments within their jurisdictions.
He noted that although the assemblies have technical professionals, including architects, engineers, planners and surveyors, many of them 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,” Emmanuel Cherry stated.
He stressed that the situation has contributed to challenges in processing building permits and monitoring 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,” he added.
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 at 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 said.
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,” Mr. Frimpong Boateng stated.
