Ghana: Disaster Management
Ghana: Disaster Management
10 July 2008
published by http://allafrica.com
Ghana — Obuasi Mine, as part of its social and environmental commitment, to meet the highest standards in the ISO 14001 certification, is to partner the Obuasi office of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), to sensitize the people on the dangers of the company’s slimes dam.
The objective is for the Obuasi people to be alert of the dangers associated with the slimes dam, and good practices, in time of disasters.
Mr. Emmanuel Addison, Obuasi Municipal Coordinator of NADMO, disclosed this at a two-day seminar, organized by AGA, with the support of his office, in Obuasi recently, and attended by assembly members, unit committee members, opinion leaders and chiefs, in some selected communities within the municipality.
The seminar, which was aimed at educating the participants on the dangers of bush fires, and how to manage fire emergencies, was also to sensitize them on the dangers of floods.
Topics treated included flood preparedness and response, food safety, bushfires and its effects on society, as well as their causes.
Mr. Addison, who took the over 140 participants, through food safety after floods, said since food was an essential need in times of disaster, they should always ensure that whatever they eat is wholesome.
“Food suddenly becomes an essential need in times of disaster, and there is the tendency for people to eat whatever they get their hands on, without the necessary precautions, making them vulnerable to possible disease epidemics.”
He hoped with the knowledge acquired, the participants would go out and educate their subjects, on how to treat food, in the face of disasters.
Mr. George Kesse Takyi, Station Officer at the Obuasi National Fire Service, identified fuel, weather and topography, as the main factors affecting bushfires.
He said unquenched cigarette butts, trapping of animals, burning of farm lands, extracting honey with fire and charcoal, were some of the artificial causes of bushfires while lightning, volcanoes, sunrays and rocks falling from hilly areas, remained the natural causes of bush fires.
Mr. Takyi, therefore, advised the participants to always ensure that precautionary measures were taken, to avoid any form of bushfires.
Participants, after the workshop, called for the organization of such seminars, in the various communities, in order to reach out to more people.
