Government reorganizes the Ghana Meteorological Agency

Accra, July 12, GNA – The Government of
Ghana is committed to reorganizing and repositioning the Ghana Meteorological Agency
(GMet), to become the best meteorological institution of the sub-region.

"The government has demonstrated that
commitment by purchasing a number of equipment such as automatic weather systems
stations, calibration equipment, vehicles and many others ".

Mr. Vincent Sowah Odotei, Deputy Minister of
Communications, said this in Accra Wednesday, at the opening of a national conference
Advisory Workshop for the Establishment of a National Framework for Climate
Services in Ghana.

He stated that Ghana, Co-Chair of the
Advocacy Group on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a
particularly concerned with empowering the GMet, to take the necessary climate measures, in particular
furthering the achievement of the SDG 13.

"It is important for Ghana to adapt
our climate services to the needs of end-users, and climate information should be
to meet the specific needs of users by relevant forecasts based on
advisory services and decision support tools, "said the deputy minister.

Mr. Odotei noted that the implementation of
Ghana's National Framework for Climate Services Required Strong Partnerships
and collaboration with international organizations and user groups such as sectoral organizations.
experts, government agencies, the private sector and academia.

He said the government would support GMet,
who was the lead agency in the implementation, to ensure that the climate
services were efficiently provided for the improvement of climatological information
products, forecasts and prospects.

The Deputy Minister stated that the government
through the Ministry of Communication would ensure the implementation of the framework
implemented to the letter.

He said the flagship programs were
implemented by the government, such as Planting for Food and Jobs, One
village one dam and a district one mill were all climate dependent, which
the establishment of the national framework on time.

"The ministry through GMet, would
promote and strengthen public information campaigns to all end-users, on the
The climate plays a key role in their activities and informs their
activities, "Sowah said.

Dr. Michael Tanu, Executive Director of
The Ghana Meteorological Agency, which chaired the program, said that climate change
and the increase in the frequency of extreme weather events such as drought,
flash floods, landslides and temperature rise in the middle of the
"urbanization" threatens our very survival ".

He said national meteorological and
The hydrological services therefore had to develop early warning systems,
help to mitigate urgently the impact of these disasters.

Dr. Tanu added: "although some work on
this has been done in various agencies and institutions of the country, there is
is the need for collaboration and coordination for resilience. "

The three-day workshop is organized by
GMet, under the auspices of the Ministry of Communication.

GNA