<<Print>>

Mr Kofi Portuphy, National Coordinator of National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has called for the establishment of a National Disaster Fund to enable the country to deal effectively with future disasters. He suggested that at least one to three per cent of the national tax should be used to establish the fund to enable donor partners to channel their allocations to it to bring about a holistic approach in combating disaster. Mr Portuphy said this when NADMO Hydrological Technical Committee members toured some five flood prone communities in Accra to enable them assess the problem and find out what post flooding activities to prioritise and act upon. He said national disasters are beyond individual ministry�s budget but if the fund is created it could cater for that. The National Coordinator said Accra has 31 flood points and all these points got flooded during the June 5, downpour. He blamed the Accra floods on several engineering mistakes and called on Department of Feeder Roads and Urban Roads to ensure that these mistakes are corrected to avoid future floods. Communities visited included Mallam Junction, Oblogo, New Weija, Glefe and Dansoman Liberty. At Mallam Junction and Dansoman Liberty some churches and factories were sited in the Densu Ramseyer sites thereby destroying the eco-system there. The factories owners, mostly Chinese are still reclaiming the land and are putting up structures in the lagoon, thus blocking its free flow thereby causing flooding. The situation at Glefe was not different since the town was full of stagnant water, yet the indigenes are reclaiming the land for building purposes. Some of them are seen constructing higher drains which would make it difficult for rain waters to flow out of the community. At New Weija, precisely Mandela, members of the committee were informed that a man lost his two sons while trying to cross a man-made hole with a canoe during the floods. The man-made hole they said was dug by CP Construction Firm when they were constructing the Weija Dam. There were several houses that were built on the water way that needed to be demolished to allow free flow of rain water to enter the Pacific Ocean to avoid constant flooding of the area. Decompose waste and public toilet close to the Densu River at Oblongo leachate into the river posing health hazards to the public. Members of the committee asked that the related Ministries, Departments and Agencies and the Chiefs should be summoned for an emergency meeting to adopt a mechanism to solve the problems to avoid future pandemics. They also called for coordination between city�s Authorities and NADMO to reduce flooding in the city and also intensify public education in the affected areas to create awareness on the health hazards. The hydro, Relief and Health Committee were also tasked to make recommendation to be represented to government on Glefe re-settlement plan.