NADMO assures public of disaster preparedness

With the rainy season in sight, the National Disaster Management Organisations (NADMO) has assured the public of adequate preparations in place to manage disasters during the season.

Mr Kweku D. De Graft, the Acting Director of Public Relations, NADMO, said throughout the year the Organisation had been carrying out adequate sensitisation in flood prone areas to educate the people on preventive and safety measures to avoid any disasters.

He said an operational stand-by team was in place to assist the public in flood prone areas in case of any emergencies.

Mr De Graft said the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange, Awoshie, Darkuman, Dansoman, Santa Maria, Kokompe, Communities 18 and 20 are some of the flood prone areas within the Accra-Tema metropolis and urged the various assemblies to desilt the drains to pave the way for smooth flow water.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency on Friday in Accra, Mr De Graft said disaster management was everybody’s responsibility adding that dumping of refuse into open drains by unscrupulous persons was compounding the flood situation in the country.

He, therefore, urged the assemblies to avoid the construction of open drains to prevent people from using them as refuse dump.

Mr De Graft cautioned the people against building on waterways and advised those in flood prone areas to move to higher grounds and take the warnings of the Ghana Metrological Agency seriously. 

He said NADMO sought to enhance the capacity of society to prevent and manage disasters and improve the livelihood of the poor and vulnerable through effective disaster management, social mobilisation and employment generation.

Mr De Graft said over the years NADMO had performed its duties diligently under many challenges and with very limited resources.

He said the relief items that the Organisation usually gave out during disasters were to mitigate the suffering of the people and called for donor assistance.

Touching on the downpour in Accra and surrounding areas on Thursday evening, Mr De Graft noted that no incident had been recorded adding that the outfit was still monitoring the situation.

Source: GNA