'Provide timely weather forecast' (Spread)

THE Minister of Communications, Dr Benjamin Aggrey Ntim, has urged meteorologists to provide sufficient and timely weather forecast, since a lot of human activities depend on such information.
He said the need for accurate meteorological information in Ghana was critical, since the country depended largely on hydro-electric power, adding that “the question of whether the rains will ensure all-year round generation of electricity at full capacity by the Volta River Authority at the Akosombo Dam keeps ringing in our ears all year round”.
The minister said this in a speech read on his behalf at the 8th European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMESAT) User Conference for Africa in Accra last Monday.
It is on the theme: “Use of Satellites for Monitoring Climate Change and Water Resources”.
The five-day international conference is being participated in by scientists, meteorologists, hydrologists, communication experts, among others.
The objectives are to inform African users of the state and plans of EUMESAT satellites, data, as well as products, in order to optimise the use of those data and products throughout the continent.
The conference is also to strengthen a well-established dialogue between EUMESAT and its main user community in Africa, especially national meteorological and hydrological services, as well as foster the use of EUMESAT data and products for various applications, especially in weather and climate forecasting.
Dr Aggrey Ntim said food security was becoming a major global threat which might endanger thousands of lives if EUMESAT in the developed world did not help to provide early warning mechanisms to support local meteorological and hydrological agencies to keep governments and policy makers alert.
He pointed out that accurate and consistent monitoring of the weather was key to human survival and called on meteorologists to explain issues of the weather in a language which the ordinary person would understand and make use of.
The Chairperson for the function, Captain Georgina Jopap, urged national meteorological agencies to collaborate to ensure higher standards in their performance.
There were messages from the Indian Ocean Commission, the European Commission (EU), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the EUMESAT Secretariat.