—current state of planning not at desired level

THE CENTRAL Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) is now placing major emphasis on its planning functions with the aim of addressing critical land-use planning issues in the areas of

infrastructural development, public services and transport and communication.
“CH&PA is more than the allocation of house lots and turnkey homes,” Minister within the Ministry of Communities with responsibility for Housing, Valerie Adams-Patterson said as she delivered the keynote address during the first National Planning Forum at the Regency Suites on Monday.

As part of its legal and institutional mandate, CH&PA under the Town and Country Planning Act is required to prepare development schemes to guide all future development, including housing and land regulation. However, this planning function was overshadowed by the Authority’s housing function.
Planning is critical, Minister Adams-Patterson underscored, noting that it allowed for a structured and coordinated approach to be taken in the decision-making process at all levels of local government.

“This may include structuring land use through zoning, addressing issues of traffic and transport, and providing an objective basis to resolve land use conflicts, among other issues,” she pointed out.
Minister Adams-Patterson added that the needs of the people must be met while positing that through land-use planning those needs within a spatial or environmental framework would be addressed.

“People have needs that must be satisfied and a sound approach to meeting such needs imply the need for planning. For instance, they need housing, jobs, education, opportunities for recreation, transport and basic services like water, electricity and health care. Social planning and policies attempt to take care of the basic social needs of the country’s population,” she further explained.

Under the Town and Country Planning Act, CH&PA is mandated to address land-use planning issues ranging from the design and construction of new roads to the provision of public services including electricity, water supply, drainage and refuse disposal.
However, the Minister said she was cognizant of the fact that the current state of planning in Guyana was not at the desired level as compared to other developed nations due to the lack of capacity at the local level to meaningfully address planning issues. Lack of awareness and the overlapping functions of the regulatory institutions are also factors contributing to the current state of affairs.

“The effects of these challenges are manifested in breaches of planning regulations and building by-laws, encumbrance and nuisances in neighbourhoods, squatting, desecration of the environment, etc,” she posited.
Expounding on CH&PA state of affairs, the Chief Development Planner Germene Stewart said for many years, the planning remit of the authority was clouded due to lack of awareness and limited understanding of the roles and functions of the authority.

She said many were of the opinion that the CH&PA primary mandate was to “cater for the provision for housing.”
“Considering the priority given to the housing function, the planning function was confined primarily to the design and implementation stage of housing development programme with respect to the preparation of site layout designs for the sub-division of land and land use control activities, although under the Town and Country Planning Act, the CHPA is required to prepare spatial development plans (described as planning schemes under the Act) to guide and regulate development,” Stewart explained.

As such, the National Planning Forum being held under the theme “Consolidating stakeholders collaboration in supporting the mandate of the Central Housing and Planning Authority,” is intended to foster better understanding of the work of the Authority and more particular its planning functions.
It is expected that out of this forum, an agreed Action Plan for an improved planning system will be developed to strengthen coordination and collaboration among stakeholders, the Chief Development Planner said. “It is also expected that consensus on immediate actions that can be taken to start the process of alleviating some of the issues that plague the planning system,” she added.

Fayola Azore, a Development Planner, said already CH&PA is well on its way to establishing a National Capital Planning Commission, noting that the Terms of Reference (TOR) was currently being finalized. This move is expected to enhance the authority’s capacity to plan effectively at the local level starting with the Georgetown Mayor and City Council.
“Until this process is completed planning in this context therefore still remains a highly centralized government activity with the CH&PA being one of the key agencies in the process. As a consequence, the question of adequate human, technical and other resources to support the work of the CH&PA is always a critical factor for consideration, Azore posited.

However, she said that it must be noted that in the execution of its function, CH&PA in the past has prepared several land use plans for areas such as Georgetown, Lethem, Anna Regina, Charity, New Amsterdam, Linden and Corriverton. Between 2009 and 2012, the authority with the help of the Canadian Institute of Planners, designed several Community Development Plans for a number of local communities.
Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Dawn Hastings-Williams, CH&PA CEO Lelon Saul and the Chairman of CH&PA’s Board Apostle Elsworth Williams were among the officials present. The two-day forum will conclude today.