Accra, Sept. 11, GNA - The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has designed a prototype building that can withstand rainstorm and is discussing with artisans and community leaders to adopt it.

Speaking to the GNA at a soiree NADMO organised for the Media on Wednesday, Dr Cecilia Bentsi, Chairman of the Relief and Reconstruction Committee of NADMO, said the Committee was holding discussions with communities in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions to stop the perennial destruction of their houses.

She said the Committee found out that the destruction of buildings by rainstorms was as a result of defects in construction leading to either the roofs going off or the entire structure collapsing totally. Dr Bentsi said NADMO was not only thinking of educating the people in the affected communities, but also instituting a project to train artisans to construct the prototype structure.

Rainstorms hit many communities at the beginning of the rainy season every year, destroying both public and private buildings and rendering hundreds of people homeless.

Ghanaians urged to factor disaster preparedness into everyday life

Accra, Sept. 11, GNA - The Interior Minister, Hackman Owusu-Agyemang on Wednesday night said Ghanaians should factor disaster preparedness into their everyday life.

He noted that no one could predict when disasters would strike and that there was nothing worse than not knowing what to do when such occurrences happen.

"The more people are made aware that disasters do happen, then we will be able to deal with them properly", he said.

The Interior Minister was speaking at a media soiree organised by the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) at its headquarters in Accra to sensitise them on the role, vision and activities of the restructured organisation.

Act 517 of 1996 mandated NADMO to manage disaster and similar emergencies in the country.

It is the organisation's statutory responsibility to create public awareness about hazards, establish monitoring and early warning systems and effective mechanisms to respond to various disasters and to resettle communities affected by disasters.

Brigadier Joseph Odei (rtd), National Co-ordinator of NADMO, said the mission of the restructured organisation is to manage disasters by co-ordinating the resources of government institutions and developing the capacity of voluntary community-based organisations to respond effectively to emergencies.

He said NADMO is now focused on three objectives: Disaster, Social Mobilisation and Employment and International Focus.

These objectives would centre on creating and equipping the organisation to handle all aspects of disaster in Ghana; focus on the preventive aspects of disaster as a means of reducing their effects on society; provide first line initiatives in the event of disasters and assist in rehabilitation and reconstruction after a disaster. It would also centre on disaster emergency controls; relief and training as well as develop and support of community-based organisations through foreign organisations to mitigate the effects of disasters. Brig. Odei said the new NADMO is made up of old and new members, who have demonstrated dedication to service and love for the country, with proven skills and rich experiences in disaster prevention and management.

He said members of the specific committees of NADMO are either representatives of collaborating institutions including the Armed Forces, the Police and other security agencies, civil and private organisations as well as individuals, who have exhibited competence and satisfactory achievements with issues pertaining to disaster management. Colonel David Sowartey, Deputy National Coordinator of NADMO, who briefed the media on the social mobilisation programme, said NADMO was made to assume responsibility for mobilising the people for self-reliant development when the National Mobilisation Programme (NMP) was abolished.

He said the main thrust of NADMO's social mobilisation programme is to organise and educate the people at the local level to assume responsibility for disaster prevention and management and to promote the spirit of self-help, diligence and cooperation.

Col. Sowartey said NADMO considers poverty in the country as a disaster and that it was the organisation's conviction that the programme should improve the economic standard of the people and enhance disaster management at the community level and provide the reliable opportunity for poverty alleviation.

NADMO is currently involved in income generating activities in some communities. These include: Afforestation, Beekeeping, Snail-Farming and the President's Special Initiatives such as Bio-Diesel; Cassava Plantations; Salt Winning and Palm Oil Plantations as well as Cotton Production.