Annual report on the social and economic progress of the people of the Gold Coast.

Date:
[1938]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report on the social and economic progress of the people of the Gold Coast. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    104/114 (page 96)
    A substitute for town-planning has been found in the provision, as conditions warrant, of lay-outs by agreement with the local chiefs or land-owners. This system has been effective in ensuring correct development of many towns, both large and small. In towns where development is anticipated, agreements are made with the local chiefs whereby such development shall proceed only on orderly lines and in accordance with the lay-out as designed. Arrangements are concluded at the same time to enable Government to acquire free of claims for compensation the land required for roads and for such other sites as are required for public purposes. A plan of the lay-out superimposed upon a survey of the town affected is attached to the agreement, which thus defines clearly and finalty the position and enables the orderly development of the town to take place without undue expenditure. Repeated requests are received for the lay-out of towns and villages to which no lay¬ out scheme has yet been applied. Building regulations are in force, some of general application and others of particular application to certain towns. A system of deed legistration is in force throughout the Colony and Ashanti but registration of title has not yet been introduced. The Government owns little land in the Colony as may be seen from the accompanying table. Total Area Area owned by Government Sq. miles. Sq. miles. Gold Coast Colony ... ... 23,937 55 Ashanti ... 24,379 81 Northern Territories ... 30,486 43 Total ... 78,802 179 Mandated Territory of Togoland ... 13,041 ... 6 The Lands Department, which has charge of all dealings with Crown land, has its headquarters at Accra with branch offices at Sekondi and Kumasi. Survey Department. During the year the staffs of the Cadastral and Topogra¬ phical Sections of the Department have been mostly concentrated in the Western Province where considerable progress has been made on the definition of Mining and Mining Health Areas and lay-out of towns and villages. In the Central Province town surveys were urgently required for several towns to which a water supply was being extended. These were supplied. In all provinces a large amount of work was done on acquisition surveys for new roads.