E/R Disaster Reduction Day launched

Koforidua, Oct. 22, GNA - The National Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), Brigadier (Rtd) Joseph Odei, has called on Ghanaians to put in concept of disaster management when putting up buildings. He also called on Ghanaians to endeavour to insure all their properties to mitigate the effect of disaster occurrences as a way of learning to live with disasters.

The Brigadier was addressing the Eastern Regional Launch of the World Disaster Reduction Day, at Koforidua on Friday under the theme, "learning from yesterday's disasters for tomorrows hazards". He said even though Ghana had not been identified as a disaster prone country, human induced factors such as the depletion of the ozone layer and the indiscriminate felling of trees, could not be overlooked and called for stringent measures to check those activities.

Brigadier Odei noted that, China, Japan and most developed countries had lived under threats of earthquakes and hurricanes, yet their economic well-being's were not affected, because they had planned by way of insuring their properties and checking against all human induced disaster activities.

He said the concept of NADMO had now shifted from disaster response to disaster prevention, because in Ghana, human activities had been the source of all disasters such as fire outbreak and defying building regulations to build on waterways, which cause flooding.

The Eastern Regional coordinator of NADMO, Mr Samuel Ahyiah, in his address noted that through the efforts of collaborating agencies and disaster volunteer groups formed in the region, fire disaster, which used to be the region's topmost incidence had been pushed to the background.

He announced that the region registered only one incidence of bushfire since last year and said the organization would continue to pursue the outreach programmes to ensure the sustenance of that achievement.

He therefore, appealed to the media to give NADMO and all its collaborating agencies airtime and space to educate the citizenry on disaster prevention.

The Omanhene of New Juaben Traditional Area, Daasebre Prof. Oti Boateng, who chaired the function underscored the need for people to insure their properties, which he said helps in the economic development.

He explained that the paying of premiums under such insurance schemes also improves the process of mobilizing funds in building the economy and by saving the individual from the effects of disasters. He also called for media support in collaborating the efforts of the NADMO in creating awareness for the prevention of the human induced disaster prevention.