Government to Develop Law for Physical Planners.

BY SAMUEL NABWIISO

The state Minister for Urban planning in the Ministry of Lands Housing and Urban Development Isaac Musumba has said  that Government is in a plan of coming up with a law to regulate physical planners in the Country 

Speaking during the World Town planning Day at Makerere University on Thursday, Musumba observed that currently there is no law which regulates the profession hence leading to the putting up of unplanned structures, which end up collapsing

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The Minister noted that the absence of regulations has led to the creation of slums in most towns across the country.

 “The current Law does not recognise physical planners as professionals. As government we shall make sure that we have a Law which spells out who is physical planer. With the Law in place, Government will be in position to register physical planners as professionals and Monitor their conduct as it does to other professionals such as Law, Medicine and others,” the Minister said.

Minister Musumba he said the  Government will come up with new law for physical planners 

Each year planners around the world engage in activities on World Town Planning Day in an effort to raise awareness of the importance of planning in their communities.

Planning associations and academic institutions organize special educational sessions on topics relevant to planning in a local and global context.

He explained that his Ministry is committed to ensure that all buildings and other structures constructed in the towns and cities are in line with the master plan of those towns.

Failure to adhere with Government plan, he said, it will lead to the cancelation of the designed plan for the structure

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The Minister explained that unplanned towns leads to the development of slums which on many occasions — shanty towns are known for being havens to wrongdoer’s — a situation which intensifies crimes in most towns.

A physical planner working in one of the local governments, who spoke to ChimpReports on condition of anonymity  said  the development of slum areas on many occasions has not been attributed to planners but the bad politics’  in the country.

“Some towns have masterplans, but when the planners try to enforce the law, politicians at high levels try to interfere by settling people in places that have been gazzeted for specific activities. Because of politics, almost all streets in most towns are market places. When the enforcers try to send off the vendors, politicians come in in very high gear,” the planner explained.

The Minister comments about well-planned towns and cities comes at a time when the World Bank reports reveal that in the near 2040s, 75% of the world’s population will be living in towns because of the existence  of social and economic amenities.

For such cities and towns to accommodate such populations, Governments should ensure that towns meet the World standard for the cities and Towns.

During the celebration to mark the World Standard day, the Executive Director Uganda National Bureau of standard Dr. Benon Manyindo called upon urban authorities to adopt international standards on smart cities such that they can provide quality life to their citizens.

“Without complying with the standards, cities will struggle to run safe and smooth services. Standards provide the foundation for electricity access and all the many devices and systems that use electricity and contain electronics,” Manyindo explained.