AMA Develops 5-Year Disaster Plan
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) is developing a five-year disaster management action plan to prevent and mitigate the effects of man-made and natural disasters in the Accra metropolis.
Consequently, a committee made up of disaster management experts, security agents and utility service providers has begun discussions on the strategies to be incorporated in the action plan.
At a stakeholders meeting on the action plan, the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, said there was no co-ordinated way of preventing man-made disasters and reducing the impact of natural disasters in the Accra metropolis.
He said the AMA was using ad-hoc measures to address disastrous situations in the Accra metropolis.
Therefore, he said, the action plan was necessary to spell out the strategies of preventing and mitigating the effects of disasters.
Mr Vanderpuije said the AMA had taken some steps, including the pulling down of buildings on water courses and the clearing of choked drains, as a way of preventing and mitigating the effect of disasters in the metropolis.
The Metropolitan National Disaster Management Co-ordinator, Mr Isaac Mensah, said the action plan would involve educational programmes to educate the public on how to prevent man-made disasters and mitigate the effects of natural disasters.
'We will educate the people on what to do during disasters and ensure that everybody in the Accra metropolis is safe', he stressed.
Mr Mensah said the police, fire officers and the military would team up with NADMO officials to provide relief services to victims of any disaster.
He said the AMA and NADMO would continue to pull down buildings on waterways to save lives and property.
Mr Mensah said NADMO would regulate the setting up of buildings on earthquake-prone areas.
He indicated that NADMO and AMA would enforce the building regulations to ensure that people's houses would be safe from any destruction from disasters.
The Head of Nuclear Safety and Security of the University of Ghana, Legon, Prof Cyril Shandorf, charged the Disaster Management committee of AMA to 'proactively' identify the risk or disaster and plan towards reducing the impact.
He noted that 'not all risks can be prevented but can you can deal with the consequences'.
Prof Shandorf, therefore, called for a collaborative effort among the AMA, NADMO and security agencies on how to achieve sustainable risk management.