The Co-ordinator of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), DCOP Douglas Akrofi Asiedu (rtd), has assured the public that his outfit is adequately prepared for the opening of the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso. He said the organization has actively been working hand in hand with the Ministry of Interior, and Regional Disaster Management Committee, chaired by the Regional Minister, and has guaranteed that the “situation is in control so far”. Even though reports say people living in the flood prone areas have refused to leave, Mr. Akrofi Asiedu told the host of Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah on Monday, “when it becomes serious, they will move”. He said since it is “human nature”, the organization anticipated such resistance because the environment had become part of their lives. The inhabitants are mostly fishermen and farmers. DCOP Akrofi Asiedu said although they acknowledge the benefits the people derive from where they operate, for NADMO, he said, “we are concern about the lost of lives”. He reiterated that NADMO is ready to encounter the flood and the people in those communities are also well informed about the impending disaster. “Last year we didn’t inform them; this year we have done a lot of education both through the media and has also gone to the ground to alert them.” He noted that the opening of Bagre Dam has both positive and negative effects on the country; whilst it poses danger to some communities in the flood prone areas, it also helps to fill up the Akosombo Dam. Mr. Akrofi Asiedu could not readily tell when the flood is expected. But he said the movement of the water or flood would take some time, metaphorically, “it is not like an aeroplane”. The NADMO Co-ordinator said it could take a week or two before it reaches the north when it is opened. Story by Isaac Essel