Kumasi (Ashanti Region) -- The Ashanti Region recorded 153 cases of domestic fire outbreaks from January to September this year, destroying property amounting to about 1.6bn cedis.

The cases affected some 613 people and claimed two lives, according to the Regional Office of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO). Apart from the ravaging effects of domestic fires, bush fires destroyed property worth 368.8m cedis, burning 251 houses and displacing 846 persons in the region.

Kofi Osei Amponsah, Ashanti Regional Co-ordinator of the NADMO, announced this at the opening of a two-day workshop on disaster management in Kumasi. The workshop, which is under the theme "Building district capacities in Ghana", attracted District Chief Executives, Presiding Members and District NADMO Co-ordinators.

Amponsah said property worth 3.064bn cedis was lost through rainstorm, which destroyed 542 houses and displacing 5,340 people in the process. He said the Afram Plains portion of the region also recorded serious floods, which killed two children and displaced 750 persons.

Amponsah said the situation in the region called for concerted efforts by all stakeholders to ensure that the people lived in a friendly environment. He said his outfit had intensified its educational campaign programme to sensitise the people to plant trees and observe environmental hygiene.

Brigadier Joseph Odei (RTD), National Co-ordinator of NADMO, said the organisation's focus now was on preventive aspects of disasters as a means of reducing the effects its occurrence on society.

He appealed to Regional Disaster Management Committees to intensify their activities to ensure rapid reduction in disaster occurrence in the country. Sampson Kwaku Boafo, Ashanti Regional Minister, in a speech read for him, urged agencies involved in disaster management not to wait for disasters to occur before sending relief items to the affected persons.

They should rather formulate plans, organise, co-ordinate and mobilize all resources available to prevent the occurrence of disasters. Boafo urged the participants to take the workshop seriously to increase their knowledge on disaster management.