Professor Paul Yankson, of the Institute of Social, Statistics and Economic Research (ISSER) has called for a national urban policy (NUP) framework to close the wide development gap between the north and the south. Such a policy, he explained, must be tailored towards bridging the serious wide gap between the north and the south to curb the rural-urban migration and ensure a holistic and long-term sustainable development of the country. Prof. Yankson said this at a day's regional validation workshop on the draft NUP for Ghana here. The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGD) organised the workshop, !he first in the series, to solicit contributions from the public and stakeholders in the development on the draft NUP for Ghana, fashioned out by ISSER with funding from the German Development Co-operation (GTZ). It attracted district chief executives, coordinating directors, development planners, security personnel and departmental heads, among others. Prof. Yankson who is a lecturer at the Geography Department of the University of Ghana, Legon, said that under the NUP, there should be a deliberate attempt to develop the urban areas in the Northern, Upper East and West regions. For a NUP to be effective and efficient there must be a linkage to the rural areas because rural areas are tomorrow's urban towns, he stated. In view of the absence of a NUP, Prof. Yankson said urbanisation was not proceeding in the desired form and direction and called on the participants to take the workshop seriously and make contributions that would help fashion out an acceptable NUP for the country. He called for the promotion of urban centres to serve as engi1les of growth to enhance socio-economic development of the country. 'Professor Yankson further called for participatory and accountable urban governance through the strengthening of information education and communication strategies to enhance citizen's involvement and participation in the decision making process. Opening the workshop, the Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Mr. Cezar Kale, said growth should be supported by proper planning and resource distribution and called on participants to come out with a NUP that could stand the test of time. Mr. Kale noted that housing shortages, traffic congestion, widespread poverty and limited opportunities were major challenges facing the country and called for an effective and efficient policy framework on NUP to mitigate the situation. The Upper West Regional Coordinating Director, Mr. David Yakubu, who presided, said appropriate development plans must be put in place to provide facilities that would contain fast growing settlements. Mr. Yakubu said urban planning was multi-sectoral and required the involvement of all stakeholders and should not be left in the hands of the MLGD alone. Source: The Ghanaian Times