Accra, August 20 GNA-Mr. Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), on Friday announced with confidence the assembly's success in removing most of the unauthorised structures cited on waterways in the metropolis.

He said despite the challenges that the assembly faces, it is poised to go ahead with its agenda of mitigating the consequences of floods and other disasters in the Accra Metropolitan area.

Mr. Vanderpuije was speaking at the opening of a-day's workshop for stakeholders in the District Disaster Management Planning programme in Accra.

The seminar which attracted participants from National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), the AMA, Police, Army and the Ghana National Fire Service was aimed at helping the AMA draw up a five-year District Disaster Management Plan (DDMP) for its execution.

Besides, the participants are expected to make contributions towards the drafting of the DDMP for the AMA after which it would be evaluated and finalised into the action plan.

Mr. Vanderpuije also urged members of the AMA Disaster Management Task Force to be proactive with public information management so that when there is a disaster in a particular area, the people would know what to do.

He said one of the commonest disasters that are experienced in the Accra Metropolitan area is fire outbreaks and that the incidence of fire outbreaks was reducing considerably.

Mr. Mawuli Akoto, Lecturer at the School Public Health, University of Ghana and a Resource Person at the workshop, said the objective for setting up NADMO was to manage disaster and similar emergencies in the country.

He said the organisation also has the duty to spearhead efforts to ensure that regional and district assemblies prepare their own disaster management plans to cater for needs of the people during disaster.

He called on the district and metropolitan assemblies to enforce their building codes and ensure that unauthorised structures were not built on watercourses.

Professor Cyril Schandorf, a Resource Person, called for collaborative effort among the stakeholders in disaster management at the district level to ensure risk reduction.

He also stressed the need to plan for the pre-disaster phase before coming out with the actual DMP for implementation.

He said disasters were low probability but high consequences adding every effort must be made to ensure that disasters were managed properly.