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The National Development Planning Commission has announced a successful regional consultation in the Ashanti Region over its upcoming long-term development policy, to ensure continuity and stability in governance. Dr Nii Moi Thompson, Director-General of the Commission, said the consultation which sought opinions and contributions of different groups, including politicians, students, people with disability, civil society workers, and traditional leaders, was successful and provided contributors with an opportunity to give out overwhelming positive response, even among those critical of the process. The Commission started the consultations in the Ashanti Region on August 14, and continued to the Upper East Region on September 10. It will go to the Northern Region on September 16, and continue throughout the other regions from September 28. Dr Thompson disclosed these at a press briefing in Accra on Monday to make the general public aware of the progress of the consultations. Speaking on the need to run the policy through a 40-year period, the Director-General said the nation would turn 60 years in 2017 since independence, and it would be a time for celebration, reflection and preparation for the future. He said Ghana would be 100 years in 2057, and that would be a major milestone for the citizenry to celebrate their achievements. He mentioned human capital, public sector reform or modernization, land reforms, infrastructure development, energy, science, technology and innovation, social, economic, environmental, government and institutional development, and most importantly attitudinal change, as the factors that needed to be achieved within the time period of the policy. Dr Thompson also revealed that there would be a national infrastructure plan, to ensure that factors like utilities, transportation, job creation, internet connectivity, facilities, and capabilities on the part of the citizenry, got the necessary consideration and transformation in years later. �Human settlements and spatial planning; water resources, irrigation, drainage, and flood control; environmental sanitation including water supply, sewage systems and waste management; climate resilience and construction industry development are also going to be considered under the national infrastructure plan,� he said.