President Akufo-Addo last Friday presented 40 vehicles to the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) at a brief ceremony at the organisation’s headquarters at Kanda, Accra.
The vehicles included a Toyota Landcruiser, a Toyota Camry, a Toyota Hiace ambulance, a Mercedes Benz Rescue Ambulance, a payloader, five Toyota Landcruiser Prados and 30 Toyota Hilux pickups.
Prior to the ceremony, government had already distributed motorbikes to all the 16 regions and to the 260 metropolitan, municipal and district secretariats of NADMO.
Handing over the vehicles, President Akufo-Addo advised management and staff of NADMO to hold itself in readiness to save lives and properties as the rainy season approached in earnest.
He foresees a lot of storms in the offing and warns the organisation not to be overtaken by any eventualities.
“The rainy season with its associated storms will also bring in its wake its own challenges and I urge NADMO to be prepared with the required relief items and come to the aid of persons in need and affected,” he said.
He also cautioned farmers against setting of fires as the farming season approached with the rains in sight.
“As we prepare to exit the dry season and welcome the rainy season, one of the major concerns we have grappled with over the years has to do with the slashing and burning of bushes as farmers prepare their lands for planting. I appeal to our farmers in all parts of the country to exercise the utmost caution in the process of preparing their lands for the farming season, especially in the use of fire,” the President said.
President Akufo-Addo also spoke about the country’s susceptibility to earth quakes especially along the southern belt and the pockets of tremors that have occurred in Accra recently although with no serious damage caused.
When that incident occurred, the President said he directed the ministers for the Interior and National Security to constitute a committee of experts to assess the country’s state of preparedness should such a disaster reoccur and that the Minister of Interior will be convening a stakeholders conference in early April to study its report and chart a roadmap for the implementation of the recommendations.
He encouraged the leadership of NADMO to liaise with the Ghana Education Service (GES) to help incorporate learning themes of protection against earthquakes and other disasters in the curricular of the pre-tertiary education level and a sustained education for the entire population in that regard.
The Director General of NADMO, Eric Nana Agyemang-Prempeh, lauded the President for the support and promised to put adequate measures in place to provide relief to potential victims of disasters.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent