Mr. Ransford Boakye, the Eastern Regional Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), has appealed to parliament to expedite action on the passage of the National Disaster Management Service Bill before it.

He said the bill, which seeks to empower NADMO to improve on its operational efficiency, would also help the organization to take certain firm decisions and actions to prevent disaster.

Mr. Boakye told the GNA in an interview that the purpose of the service bill was to inculcate concerns of disaster management, as well as the issue of climate change into the activities of his outfit to ensure safety of lives and property.

Mr. Boakye said the bill would help communities to have a fair knowledge on earthquake and flood prone zones. It will address the financial difficulties facing NADMO, because Parliament is expected to approve a percentage of the national revenue into a National Disaster Management Fund to enhance the operations of NADMO.

He expressed concern about the collapse of buildings in recent times, especially in Accra, and attributed them to a lack of proper supervision by the authorities, and that, under the bill, NADMO would have powers to permit or disallow the construction of a building.

Mr. Boakye said the region was doing well in terms of disaster management and in 2013, his outfit was able to organize sensitization workshops to educate some communities on disaster prevention.

He said with the support of UNICEF, his outfit was able to organize a sensitization radio talk show on some of the local radio stations in the region, and also had support from district assemblies in the region to organize capacity building workshops for their personnel on new ways and strategies of managing disasters.

He said in spite of the efforts of his organization, illegal mining, popularly known as ‘galamsey,’ continues to be a major challenge for the region and called on traditional authorities, land owners and all stakeholders to join hands with NADMO to flush out the illegal miners before they cause further damage to the environment.

Mr. Boakye expressed appreciation for the immense contributions of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to the activities of his outfit.