Addo-Kufuor: Educate communities on floods

Accra, July 16, GNA - Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, Minister of the Interior, on Wednesday urged all stakeholders to ensure that communities living along the banks of the White Volta and its tributaries are not affected by floods when

the Burkinabe spilled water from their dams between now and September. He said the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), District Assemblies, Volta River Authority and other stakeholders should ensure that all communities living along the White Volta and its tributaries were adequately informed about the impending spill and take appropriate preventive action with the needed support. Speaking during a visit to the NADMO office in Accra, the Minister said government had been alerted of a possible spillage of water from the Kompienga and Bagre dams in Burkina Faso between July and September. The spillage, which, he said, would be due to heavy rainfall over the period, had the capacity to cause flooding and affect life and property of people living in areas around the White Volta. Dr Addo-Kufuor stressed the need for NADMO staff to step up awareness creation and sensitization programmes to educate the public about the consequences of disasters on their lives and property if not anticipated and dealt with properly.

The Minister noted that disasters could lead to loss of life and property, disruption of economic activities of communities and undermining of development programmes of the government and there was the need for people to be prepared for such situations. "Concerning the global climate change, NADMO must continue to educate the public on the dangers of deforestation, bush burning, water pollution and other negative activities on the environment," Dr Addo-Kufuor said.

He advised the staff to always try to maintain the good reputation of the organization and government, adding that, government would do all it could to ensure that NADMO was provided with the resources and equipment needed to make it efficient and effective. "Since disaster response is expensive, let us focus more on prevention and mitigation," he said, and commended NADMO for its efforts during the 2007 floods in the three Northern regions and the Western region.

Dr Addo-Kufuor also commented on the bad roads that led to the head office of NADMO and said: "When I was coming here I felt I was in a disaster zone. I will draw the attention of the Minister of Transportation as soon as possible."

DCOP Douglas Akrofi Aseidu, National Coordinator of NADMO, said with the rise in the incidence of disasters around the world, his organization had shifted focus towards disaster prevention. "We have therefore embarked on public education and sensitization through television and radio programmes, workshops, seminars, floats etc."

He said with the elections a few months away, NADMO had tasked all regional, district and zonal coordinators to intensify monitoring in their respective areas to prevent any emergencies during the elections. Mrs Eunice Asamani Osae, an official at NADMO said among the major challenge the organization faced were inadequate and late release of government budgetary allocation and lack of an enforcement law, which hindered their smooth operations.