One thousand hectares of the 6,000 hectares maize farm in the Central Region had been completely destroyed by the fall armyworm.

Mr Richard Baffour Asare, the Central Regional Operations Director of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), announced this at a public forum organised by the Gomoa East District Office of NADMO at Gomoa Buduburam in the Central Region.

He said the timely intervention by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) and Regional Coordinating Council salvaged the 5,000 hectares of maize farm.

The public forum, which was attended by school children, market women, farmers, and drivers among other stakeholders, was under the theme: “Safe Home Safe”. Mr Asare, however, did not mention districts and communities, which were affected by the fall armyworm, but gave the assurance that workers of NADMO in the districts and regional offices were ready to deal with any situation that may arise.

He said officials of NADMO were ready to collaborate with MOFA, the Regional Coordinating Council and other stakeholders in agriculture to combat the fall armyworm, which were threatening livelihoods of farmers.

He called on the farmers to report such incidences early to the agric extension officers and NADMO, and spray their farms regularly, in accordance with expert advice, to ward off attacks by the fall armyworm.

Mr Asare said NADMO was legally mandated to carryout inspection of offices, petrol and gas filling stations among others to ensure safety.

Mr Joseph Quainoo, the Gomoa East District Officer of NADMO, said the forum was to sensitise residents of Gomoa Buduburam on the importance of safety at home and educate them to avoid using sub-standard electrical cables to wire their homes to avert fire outbreaks.

He said studies had revealed that majority of domestic fire outbreaks were attributable to the usage of unapproved electrical cables and appealed to estate developers to use the correct ones. Nana Kojo Essel, the Chief of Gomoa Buduburam, praised the NADMO for organising the forum to educate the residents on ensuring safety at home.

He, however, expressed disappointment in some youths for attacking officials of the Ghana National Fire Service when fire gutted some buildings at Buduburam some time ago.

He said the chiefs and elders had cautioned the youth to desist from such acts, adding that they would not hesitate to hand over such miscreants to the law enforcement agencies.