HOW THIS MAN SURVIVED THE ACCRA DISASTER THAT CLAIMED HUNDREDS

 It was a dark day in Ghana and the Accra city to be exact.The wenesday's tragic incident which killed 170 people at the Kwame Nkrumah circle has sent a very huge signal that as a country we need to have a disaster specific management plan.It is however pathetic that  we did not even have a strategic mode of reaching out to victims or survivors who might still be kept under wreckage after being swept away by the streaming flood.At least an official twitter handle could do the trick.Do we know where to send relief items to?Just yesterday numerous calls were made to NADMO to no avail.The twitter handle could be used to solicit for support for victims and survivors and to rebuild the lost properties and at least help heal the soaring wounds in the hearts of victims.

Please pause and listen to a survivor's story;



“When the explosion happened, the hot air from the gas blew me away and I fell into the rushing floods that were carrying lots of properties. The water then carried me along with the debris for about two hundred metres before I finally grabbed a pole…indeed I was determined that I won’t allow the rushing waters to carry me away since the Odaw river is the final destination for all things carried by the water.”
Though carpet seller Richard Duful, popularly known as ‘Oluman’ survived the accident, he lost his brother who minutes before his miraculous escape was engaged in conversation with him.
Oluman said his late brother Joe informed him that he and several others were losing their carpets to the floods and it was therefore imperative that they move them to safety.
As someone who was in the carpet business with guys who also hail from the same town as himself, he hurriedly alerted the rest to save their wares.

“In the process of taking out the carpets from the room, we realized we couldn’t help again as the waters were rising, so we all decided to rather save our lives…and while we stood under a shed close to the filling station, we started chatting about certain pertinent life issues…,” he narrated.

Oluman told further that it was in the middle of their conversation that ‘we were informed by a friend that there is fire which was moving towards our direction from the Odawna Market’. Less than a minute later the fire, he added, reached their location consuming various items in its wake.

“The flood waters that had engulfed the surroundings were oily as leaked petrol and diesel from the filling station where we had taken shelter from the rains floated on the water.”

Thus according to him, he and others had difficulty trying to walk in the rushing waters to another side due to how heated the flood water was. In less than two minutes of the announcement, the fire reached the filling station and an explosion occurred killing almost everyone who had taken shelter at the location.

“I didn’t see anything again, all I could see was that I had been blown into the waters by the heated winds from the explosion and the floods started carrying me away”.

he determination to survive, he added, made him try as much as possible to keep his head above the waters to avoid drowning.
“Finally after being dragged along for close to two hundred metres, I was able to hold on to something and started pulling myself up from the floods to safety…,” he narrated.
The man who was almost in tears said after ensuring his safety, he began frantically looking for his brother through the blazing fire.

“The fire was still raging at the filling station and that was when I became convinced that everyone in there had lost his life…and I knew my brother was part of them…,” he said in a sorrowful mood.

Unfortunately, his brother was not the only one dead as approximately a hundred persons were killed in the fire outbreak. Several others also lost their lives through the floods, with countless ones injured. Persons who died through the filling station fire, he recounted included passengers in a Benz Bus that was filling up with fuel before continuing on their journey.

His Health
Oluman was full of praise to the Almighty God for his survival, and he is sure the Lord who rescued him would help him recover fully from the injuries he sustained.

“I am not leaving Accra for my hometown because I lost valuables and a dear brother, I would continue to fight on and make a living here…,” he told Kwaku Nti.

Wednesday’s tragic incident which killed about 170 - See more at: http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2015/June-6th/photos-day-3-of-accra-floods-and-goil-filling-station-explosion.php#sthash.Ltp68YOu.dpuf

ROAD ACCIDENTS CLAIM 2,249 LIVES IN 2012

About 2,200 Ghanaians lost their lives through road accidents in 2012. This is according to provisional statistics released by the Road Safety Commission.

Some 14,169 others were injured, some of them disabled for life.

Communications Director at the Road Safety Commission Lawyer Kwame Atuahene disclosed these statistics in an interview with Joy FM.

“For the number of persons who got killed, there’s some four percent reduction [over the 2011 figure] but that is way below the expectation of the commission at the beginning of the year,” he said.

“A region like Ashanti which for years had gained some notoriety for road traffic-related fatalities – the second most accident-prone region in the country for a long time- in 2012 they appear to have done a lot more well, recording a thirty percent reduction. The same can be said of the Northern Region. These are the few positive signs that are trying to emerge.”

A new year has begun and the Road Safety Commission and other stakeholders in the roads sector, including the Highways Authority, are setting high goals with the ultimate aim of reducing road traffic-related deaths.

There is, however, concern that most of these high hopes will be dashed due to a lack of commitment on the part of government and other stakeholders to protecting lives on the roads.
ps :copied from myjoyonline.com
Yakubu H.Yakubu 
cert-ghana 

Truck runs over cyclist on Kasoa road-Ghana

It is always gory and very unsightly on the road carnnages in Ghana.One would wish such does not happen but some are actually unavoidable and equally so some are man-caused.Overspeeding cannot be left out.Again reckless driving is vehemently mentioned.
It is in the  light of this, that  CERT GHANA will wish to train more volunteers who can give first aid on accident victims with the provided  and accepted skill.
'A truck has run over a cyclist at Shoprite near the Tollbooth on the Kasoa road.

Eyewitnesses told Myjoyonline.com's Dorcas Efe Mensah that the cyclist tried to avoid a trotro bus parked inappropriately by the roadside but the bus suddenly moved pushing him into the inner lane.

The truck with Registration Number CR 465 11, could not avoid the young man, said to be in his early twenties.' myjoyonline.                                                  

yakubu h.yakubu
CERT Ghana

A Plea for Support to train football first aiders- The cry for CERT GHANA

Football is the most popular sport in Ghana. The national governing body is the Ghana Football Association. Internationally, Ghana is represented by the male Black Stars and the female Black Queens. The top domestic football league in Ghana is the Glo Premier League. The passion and the unifier of the nation is football.

 However, in recent times, what appears as the passion and the unifier of the nation is a venue of death for some unlucky footballers and funs. Ghana has the history of recording football heinous ever disaster in the world. The May 9,2001 disaster that claimed 120 lives was a black day in the football fraternity to Ghanaians alone but to the world loving soccer funs.

Another reason why this training needs to be organized is on September 3, 2011 when the nation once again lost a football administrator (Alhaj Ibrahim Sly Tetteh )who scouted some of the great players currently in the Black stars.Again a player of Kessben Fc Bartholomew Yeboah died in the hospital after he collapsed in a league of cardiac arrest.

It is in the light of this, that Community Emergency Response Team Ghana would want to seek for support to organize an intensive training for the football fraternity. Basic Life Support and CPR skills will be a key in the training.

We need funding and some medical equipments like 12-lead ECG for the training and checking of players cardiac activity.We have already decided to always send our volunteers to help the football teams at league matches to give first aid to footballers and funs as standby responders.

Community Emergency Response Team Ghana is a nonprofit organization and the first citizen corps in Ghana that seeks to train community volunteers in disaster preparedness and response.

Attached below is our brochure:

A BRIEF NOTE ON CERT GHANA   - BROCHURE

Who We Are: Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Ghana is a non- profit, non- governmental organization that seeks to manage natural and manmade disasters in Ghanaian communities through community volunteers. CERT, Ghana seeks   to train community volunteers on basic rescue techniques of disaster management. It envisions a Ghana where every individual is entitled to the basic skills and knowledge of disaster management.

Vision: Doing the Greatest Good for the Greatest Number.

Mission Statement: Managing natural and man made disasters through community volunteers who are trained on, first aid and basic rescuing techniques. Health education and setting up mobile clinics to take care of disaster victims post disaster is our hope.

Objectives: CERT ,Ghana seeks to contribute to disaster management and the promotion of the spirit of voluntarism in  Ghanaian communities.

In furtherance of  this   goal CERT, Ghana  seeks to:

•             To promote voluntarism and voluntary efforts in the management of community emergencies in cases of natural and man made disasters.

•             To help other departments responsible for ensuring public and community safety  through rescue techniques by using the community volunteers as they are nearer to the scenes.

•             To train community volunteers in the management of emergencies.

•             To support victims to cope with psychological and economic effects of natural and man made disasters and integrate them back to society.

What We Do : CERT Ghana  promote the spirit of volunteerism .Instill  in every Ghanaian that we all have a hand in hometown security and that every community is secured in terms of disaster through its efforts. We share information on the best practices of disaster preparedness in the country through training of community volunteers on basic techniques of disaster management skills. Health Education is also our hope. campaigning on disaster prevention with the right base approach.

Areas  that  We Work : CERT, Ghana’s scope  of work  concentrate on three thematic areas namely :First aid through training of community volunteers on( Basic Life Support and Trauma Life Support), Search and Rescue Techniques through training of volunteers on basic techniques of retrieving victims in building collapse or earthquakes,  Fire suppression is also our hope. Post disaster health needs of victims and Health Education on outbreaks of diseases are the cross-cutting issues and each thematic group  is encouraged to our volunteers to mainstream them. Specifically, programmes and policies of training our volunteers are  within  the national and global frameworks, focusing on issues of disaster preparedness and management through our volunteers who are trained on the basic skills and techniques of crisis or disaster management and approach.

•             CERT, Ghana organized Health Outreach programme at Buipe,  a village in northern Ghanthat was hit by flood  last year. A  number  of medical professionals were sent to this village to assess and examine their health needs with first aid treatment. A consultant in Anesthesia and a specialist in Emergency management of Tamale Teaching Hospital was also part of this trip. We sensitized the people on flood and disaster preparedness. This attracted a national attention as the National Television had  a media coverage of the programme.

•             Engagement on the training of community volunteers of CERT, Ghana with Crisis commons  in USA.

•             CERT, Ghana  has liason with the Ghana Ambulance Service.

Thematic Groups: CERT ,Ghana volunteers  are encouraged to work and attend workshops organized by CERT to enreach their knowledge and skills of disaster preparedness and rapid response based on current and global accepted framework and understanding.

The organization works with Standard Operating Procedure(SOP) document that is similarly used by the Medical Reserve Corp in united State. The organization has a constitution that governs its activities and volunteers are registered.

The organization monitors and analyses policy formulation and implementation and share its findings and makes recommendations on these findings.

THE ORGANISATION INVOLVED:

Membership of  CERT, Ghana comprises mainly  professional volunteers and non professional volunteers, civil society  organizations, community groups, youth groups, development organizations and affiliate members from other organizations.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES:

1. Dr.Adam Abass: Neuro-surgical consultant Tamale Teaching Hospital and University for Development Studies (UDS) Medical School.

2. Chief Alhassan Issahaku: Director for Northern Regional Population Office.

3. Dr. Ahmed Zakariah: Director of Ghana Ambulance Service .

4. Dr. Ibrahim Abubakari: Orthopedic consultant Tamale Teaching Hospital and Medical School of UDS

5. Alhaj Adam Issahaku: A medical practitioner and C.E.O. of   Haj Adams Clinic.

6. Yakubu H. Yakubu: Director CERT, Ghana and a Registered Nurse at the Intensive Care Unit Tamale Teaching Hospital.

Written by:                                                                            

Yakubu H.Yakubu

Director CERT GHANA.

0245115146

Five galamsey miners trapped to death

Five illegal miners in the early hours of Monday died at Prestea in the Western Region when a pit in which they were prospecting for gold gave way.

Three of the deceased have since been retrieved but local rescuers said they were not natives of the Prestea community.

Mr. Iddrisu Salifu Mohammed, Prestea Huni/Valley District Coordinator, National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), told the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday that the incident occurred around 7:00 am within the concession of Golden Star Bogoso Prestea Limited.

The NADMO officer said upon hearing the news around 9:00am, he hired the services of an excavator operator to help rescue the trapped miners.

He said the machine dug for several hours but only three out of the five bodies were retrieved with the remaining two still trapped underground.

According to him, the bodies of the three have since been deposited at the Prestea Government hospital for autopsy.

He said the corpses would be buried in a mass grave.

Mr Adu-Blay Koffie, Member of Parliament for Prestea Huni/Valley, who was at the accident scene, said the only way such disasters could be avoided in the near future is by regularizing the actives of the illegal miners.

He asked the Government to allocate concessions to the illegal miners and task the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as the Minerals Commission to monitor their activities to help save the nation’s forest reserves and water bodies as well as human lives

Yakubu H.Yakubu
DIRECTOR
CERT GHANA

Liberia refugees in Ghana to lose their status from July 1

Some 11,000 Liberian refugees in Ghana may end up being aliens if they do not take advantage of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR’s) voluntary repatriation program to return home.

This is because effective July 1, 2012, the UNHCR will wash its hands off the refugees when it activates its refugee cessation clause of 1951 which will effectively strip all Liberian refugees in Ghana of their refugee status, hence they will not be under the care of either the UNHCR or the Ghana Refugees Board.

Explaining the reason behind the UNHCR’s move on Multi TV’s current affairs program, pm: EXPRESS, the Assistant Public Information Officer of the UNHCR, Ewurabena Hutchful said the move had become necessary since calm had been restored in Liberia after years of a civil war.

Thousands of Liberians fled to Ghana in the early 1990s when their country was at war. Majority of those Liberians however have returned home either on their own accord or through the UNHCR’s voluntary repatriation program.

But according to the UNHCR, some 11,000 plus Liberian refugees still live in Ghana.

When the cessation clause is activated, Liberian refugees currently residing at the Budumburam Camp will have to opt for either an impending mass repatriation exercise or regularize their stay in Ghana or other sub-regional countries they find themselves in, lest they end up as aliens in Ghana.

The activation of the cessation clause comes after years of deliberation by the international community.

Ms. Hutchful however dispelled suggestions that the cessation clause is being activated because of Ghana’s impending elections in December.

“The declaration has nothing to do with the upcoming elections in Ghana. The absence of a Refugee Board then and the Ivorian situation delayed the declaration” she explained adding that having had two successful elections after the 1989 civil war in Liberia, the international community thought it right to activate the clause while UN peacekeepers are also withdraw from that country.

Programme Coordinator for the Ghana Refugee Board, Tetteh Paddy who was also a guest on the show indicated that Liberian refugees who choose to stay in Ghana would have to settle in other localities apart from the Budumburam Camp when the June 30 deadline expires.

He advised Liberian refugees seeking local integration to go through the legal processes of acquiring documentation to authenticate their stay.

Yakubu H.Yakubu
Ghana- CERT.

Source:myjoyonline.com

Bush Burning is a Disaster that threaten the Economy

A huge rice farm belonging to the Board Chairman of the Agricultural Development, Alhaji Ibrahim Adam, has been destroyed by fire set by a man who claimed he was roasting cassava.

Mr Yakubu Ibrahim, brother of Alhaji Adam, said only 45 acres had been harvested out of 150-acre farm when the man-made disaster struck at Sakpei in the Yendi Municipality on January 10.

He told officials of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) who visited the burnt farm that the man who caused the catastrophe, known only as Issifu, admitted he started the fire.

Mr Ibrahm said the former Minister of Agriculture spent a lot of money on the new variety of the Jasmine Perfume Rice and that they were harvesting the rice when the combine harvester had a break down and was being repaired at Sakpei.

He quoted Issifu as having said he was roasting his cassava in his nearby farm when the wind blew the fire into the rice farm and that the “fire was so fearful that he could not put it out.”

Mr Ibrahim said last year Issifu caused a fire that burnt a 20-acre rice farm belonging to Afa Mahamadu of Sakpei.

 These and many more are some of the issues CERT Ghana would train its volunteers  for.

Yakubu  H.Yakubu
Cert Ghana.