Interior Minister: Govt to Deploy 48 Engineer Regiment to Clear Floods, 12 Lives Lost

The Minister for the Interior, *Hon. Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak*, has told Parliament that government will deploy the *Ghana Army’s 48 Engineer Regiment* to clear flood-hit areas and avoid procurement delays.

Addressing the House, the Minister said the Ministry is working with the Acting Defence Minister to use military engineers for clearance works.

“We have even started the move with the acting defence minister that we should put our forty-eight engineers regiment in place to use the resources in making sure that all those clearance done is done by the forty-eight engineers so that we do not have to waste time in going through procurement challenges and all that,” Hon. Muntaka stated.

The Minister confirmed that *12 lives have been lost* to the floods, describing it as “very unfortunate.”

“So Mr Speaker yes we’ve lost twelve lives which is very unfortunate. I want to believe that as a country we probably have to work very hard to ensure that we minimize these losses,” he said.

Hon. Muntaka cautioned that disasters are inevitable, and the focus must be on preparedness. Citing California in the U.S., he noted that even the world’s richest states record fatalities during disasters.

“Disasters will always come. It is how prepared you are that will determine the amount of loss that may be occurred... America is the richest country in the world... Yet they had disaster and people lost their lives,” he told MPs.

Whole-of-Government Approach

The Minister said government is adopting a “whole of government and a whole of society approach” to flood management, with individuals, Assemblies, and government all taking responsibility.

“We are not using this as an excuse. Water will always come but we must do what we can as people... Individuals will have to take their responsibility. Assemblies have to take their responsibility. Those of us in government will have to take our responsibility and work very hard to ensure that we do not lose life unnecessary,” he stated.