A former boss of the National Disaster Management Organisation in the Volta Region has questioned the rationale behind the deployment of the military to fight worms in the in the Volta Region. Ken Nuworsu believes professional NADMO officials with support from trained footsoldiers will, within days, win the war against the worm invasion within eight communities in Keta in the Volta Region. The worms have reportedly taken over the rivers and farms of residents who are predominantly peasant farmers and fisher folks. President Mills on Monday directed the military to fight the army worms which have invaded the communities, disrupting social and economic activities. The military men say it will take two weeks to complete the task handed them by the Commander-In-Chief. But a former NADMO boss under the erstwhile Kufuor administration told Joy News’ Dzifah Bampoh the deployment is a complete waste of resources. “This matter is not a new phenomenon. NADMO Volta Region is already experienced in the handling of this infestation,” he said. He blamed the current phenomenon to what he says is the mass transfer of zonal and district NADMO officials from Volta to the Ashanti Region, in the past two years. He explained the area is prone to army worm infestation and in the few days the worms will hatch into butterflies. According to him, the trained professionals who over the years have been fighting the canker have all been transferred. He condemned the decision to deploy the military to fight the canker saying, NADMO, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Agric have a technical committee which over the years has been fighting the canker. The worm invasion is reported to have claimed seven lives when it broke five years ago. Mr Nuworsu was unequivocal in his believe that NADMO could have won the battle without putting yet another burden on the military. “NADMO has sufficient technical and manpower capacity to deal with this matter. We have always dealt with this matter but for the past two years nobody has done anything about it and that is why the outbreak has gotten out of hand,” he said. "If our military do not have any business then they should be deployed to go and fight army worms, [when] local youth and footsoldiers of the party can be deployed and trained within hours to handle spraying machines?" he quizzed. Play the attached audio for excerpts of the interview Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana