Ghana’s earthquake preparedness strategy fit for purpose – Lands Minister

The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, says a task force put together by the government has formulated a robust earthquake preparedness strategy for the country.

According to him, the current strategy has been extensively examined and is fit for purpose.

Briefing the press on February 28, 2023, the Lands Minister assured that the government is working around the clock to ensure that the country is able to withstand such natural disasters if they occur.

“Government has put in place a taskforce chaired by the Minister of Interior [Ambrose Dery]. They have done tremendous work, and they have done a whole lot of work on Ghana’s earthquake preparedness strategy. And it’s been to Cabinet several times, it’s been examined and interrogated many times. Indeed, we now have an earthquake preparedness strategy which I believe is fit for a purpose.

He added, “a statement was even made in Parliament to assure Ghanaian people of the earthquake preparedness strategy. As you know, the Ghana Geological Survey Authority has some oversight when it comes to earthquakes, and it’s an agency under the Ministry. I myself made a statement in Parliament after we had that minor earth tremor to update the country’s earthquake preparedness.”

“So I can assure you that the government is taking all the steps under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo to ensure that we are prepared, and we have measures in place to protect Ghanaian people in the touch wood, may it never be our portion”.

He urged Ghanaians to pray to avert any possible earthquakes.

“I think one of the areas of preparedness is to pray because matters of earthquake can be in the hands of the Lord. It’s an act of God, we are a God-fearing country and the good Lord has been so good to us, let’s continue to hope so,” the Minister said.

Parts of the capital Accra in 2022 experienced a number of earth tremors.