NADMO cautions public to ensure disaster-free Xmas (Back Page)

THE National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has cautioned the public to guard against six potential causes of disaster during the upcoming Christmas and New Year festivities.
In its pre-Christmas titbits to ensure disaster-free festivities, NADMO advised the public to guard against domestic and industrial fires, bush fires, motor accidents, disasters associated with large human gatherings, social disorders or disturbances, as well as crime.
The Public Relations Officer of the organisation, Major Nicholas Mensah (retd), said domestic and industrial fires were mostly caused by the firing of fire crackers (knockouts), burning of used lorry tyres to usher in the New Year, excessive intake of alcohol which tended to induce careless use of fire in homes, especially on Boxing Day, and overloading of electrical sockets for entertainment purposes.
He cautioned the public to be on the look out for any of those activities and advised relations and neighbours to be one another’s keeper for the safety of all.
“If all precautionary measures are taken and still one is faced with a disaster, please get in touch with NADMO on 021-772926;, 020-2019090 or 028-9554061,” he stressed.
He said to prevent disasters from any of the above-mentioned factors, NADMO, in collaboration with the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), had begun intensive public education and sensitisation programmes at the community level, with support form the various disaster volunteer groups.
He said there was also the possibility of a rise in the number of motor accidents during the period because of increase in the number of travellers which some times made some drivers speed, overload and indulge in wrong overtaking and parking of vehicles.
To protect themselves, Major Mensah charged passengers to insist that drivers did the right thing on the road.
He stated that there were road safety campaigns throughout the country and urged drivers to value their lives and the lives of other road users by heeding the advice of the agencies involved in road safety.
He called for legal empowerment of personnel of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) to enable them to sanction offending drivers, adding that the police should also intensify road checks.
As part of the education, he urged the public to refrain from using roads and streets for social functions without approval from the relevant authorities, since that could cause motor accidents.
He observed that social disturbances occurred when there was excessive merrymaking and alcohol intake which made people behave negatively. Such behaviour, he pointed out, often led to fighting.
Major Mensah stated that there was the possibility of some unscrupulous persons taking advantage of the festivities to engage in criminality and went ahead to advise the public to always take note of the registration numbers of taxis and other passenger vehicles they boarded during the period to be able to report any negative action to the police.
“In the night, avoid moving alone, especially when carrying luggage. Do not expose valuables carelessly; this attract pick-pockets and avoid making calls or answering calls when in a secluded area else you end up having your phone snatched”, he elaborated.