Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 18 March '99

The government has voted 16 billion cedis for disaster management activities in the country this year, Mr Kofi Portuphy, National Co-ordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), announced in Kumasi on Wednesday. He said out of the amount, two billion cedis is to go into the payment of salaries while the rest is to be used in training schemes, capacity- building programmes and disaster management drives. Mr Portuphy was speaking at the opening of a one-day workshop, organised by NADMO for its staff in the Ashanti Region. The workshop is aimed at equipping the staff of NADMO with the requisite skills and knowledge as front liners to enable them effectively handle and manage disasters. Mr Portuphy asked the officers not to evolve their programmes in isolation since disaster programmes must be done and co-ordinated into the district development plans. Mr Kojo Yankah, Ashanti Regional Minister, stressed the need for personnel of NADMO to strive to approach their work in unity and fairness, devoid of any intrigues of discrimination since that was the only way their assistance can have greater impact on communities. He advised them to back-up their management and handling of disasters with intensive educational programmes, adding that this is vital as disaster management is not based only on technological advancement of a society, but the level of psychological readiness of its people on such occurrences. Mr Yankah called on NADMO to adopt an inter-sectoral approach in the execution of their job by linking up with the various departments of the district assemblies, chiefs and religious bodies for the design and implementation of their programmes.