Upper West Regional Platform for disaster risk reduction launched

Wa, Oct. 7, GNA - Mr. Mahmud Khalid, Upper West Regional Minister, has suggested the creation of reservoirs in the tributaries of major rivers in the three northern regions to help reduce the perennial flooding that causes destruction.

"Let us find a location for excess water from the White Volta, Back Volta and other rivers to benefit the people rather than allowing flood waters to go waste and cause considerable destruction to crops and human lives and other property".

Mr. Khalid was speaking at the launch of the Upper West Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction and related issues at Wa on Monday. The 22-Regional platform members would help create awareness among the people about disasters and their preventions and management. Mr. Khalid said disasters and their impact had been on the rise, threatening people's security and livelihoods as well as their social and economic development.

Quoting World Bank report on the growing impact and cost of disasters; the Regional Minister said between 1997 and 2006, the number of deaths doubled from 600.000 to 1.2million people. He said 1.6 billion people had been directly affected from 1984 to 1993, and from 1994 to 2003, six million people were also affected as a result of disasters.

Disaster cost 652 billion dollars, 15 times higher between 1990 and 1999, than the period between 1950 and 1959, which cost 38 billion dollars.

Mr. Khalid said disaster could cost 300 billion dollars yearly by 2050 and that would help increase poverty, diseases and social conflicts among the people.

He therefore tasked the Platform members to work assiduously to create an enabling environment for successful disaster risk reduction and sustainable development.

He said the region was endowed with vast and arable land and other natural resources if properly harnessed would make the region to contribute immensely to Ghana's socio-economic growth. "It is therefore necessary that we build the resilience of the communities to disasters" Mr. Khalid advised.

Mr. Kofi Portuphy, National Coordinator NADMO, announced that the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations had provided 100,000 dollars to NADMO to help farmers to regain some of the losses caused them by floods and improve their livelihoods.

He urged the Platform members to help NADMO look at the types of disasters in the region and improve their prevention and management as well as source for financial support for the organisation. Mr. Portuphy appealed to engineers to provide alternative technologies to local people to build improved houses that would stand the test of the weather and reduce disasters.

He also appealed to engineers to build strong dams to conserve water for dry season gardening and animal husbandry. Mr. Bawah Seidu, Upper West Regional Co-coordinator of NADMO, said this year's rains in the Upper West Region had caused three deaths, considerable destruction to buildings and farms. He said 120 communities had been affected with 5,682 acres of farmland inundated and 421 houses collapsed.