The Central Regional Minister, Hon. Ekow Okyere Eduamoah Panyin, has urged the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to adopt a more proactive and preventive approach to disaster management, rather than focusing primarily on the distribution of relief items after disasters occur.

Speaking at a three-day Leadership and Capacity Building for 120 Metropolitan, Municipal and District (MMDs) Directors and Deputy Directors of NADMO in the Region, themed, "Resetting NADMO for Improved Performance in Disaster Resilience," he stressed that disaster management must go beyond emergency response and extend into risk reduction, preparedness, and early intervention.

The Minister noted that while NADMO’s role in providing relief to victims remains important, a reactive approach alone is insufficient in addressing the increasing frequency of disasters such as floods, fires, and storms.

“We must act before disasters strike, not only after lives and properties have been affected that you will go to donate rice, oil, mattresses and petty amenities,” the Minister emphasized.

He called for intensified efforts in public education and awareness creation, early warning systems, community-level preparedness programmes, risk mapping and monitoring, and strengthened institutional capacity. This, he said, would enhance coordination and ensure faster, more effective responses when disasters occur.

Particular concern was raised about perennial flooding in parts of the Central Region, often caused by poor drainage systems, illegal structures, and improper waste disposal.

The call is designed to reposition NADMO’s role from a largely relief-focused agency to a comprehensive disaster risk management institution.

Deputy Director General for NADMO, Hajia. Mrs. Dr. Lutfia Saaed Jamal, who represented the Director General of NADMO, Major (Rtd) Dr. Joseph Bikanyi Kuyon, emphasized that the organization is poised to equip its staffs on prevention, protection and capacity building on dangers prior to its occurrence.

She stressed that NADMO is planning to provide accomodations for selected staffs who's service are essentially needed at emergency operation centres across the country.

The Central Regional Director of NADMO, Mr. Emmanuel Kwesi Dawood Mensah, disclosed that the organization is considering to operate a school training for its recruit officers before a certificate is issued for an employment just as it is done by services like Police, Fire and the Immigration Service under the Interior Ministry.

Sompaonline.com//Francis Thompson