NADMO boss advocates a ‘National Disaster Fund’; bemoans bureaucracy at Finance Ministry

Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) Kofi Portuphy has denied claims that the Organisation overspent its budget last year.

He said the disaster management organization is rather in huge arrears as a result of emergency rescue efforts last year.

“The bills we incurred when Melcom [building] collapsed are still there unpaid,” Mr Portuphy said on TV3’s News 360 on Friday, May 31, 2013. “The bills we incurred when 22,000 Ghanaians were imported from Libya are still unpaid. Those are emergency bills which have not been paid up till today.”

He bemoaned the bureaucracy in getting funds for relief efforts, stressing that: “You have to present your estimates to the Ministry of Interior. Then it goes to the Ministry of Finance. Sometimes to the presidency, and I can assure you that when the Finance Minister says take GHp1, it can take a month or two because of the bureaucracy”.

He advocated a separate fund that will help finance rescue efforts in the country as dependence on the Finance Ministry’s emergency fund has failed to yield positive results.

“It is very crucial for us as a country like others do to put a National Disaster Fund in place so that when disasters occur supporting the relief effort with funds will be easier.”

He emphasized his outfit’s readiness to fight any disaster that may hit the country during the rainy season, pointing out that preventive measures have already been put in place.

Source: TV3 News|Ghana