By Kenneth Thompson
With help from the UN Development Programme, the Office for National Security (ONS) through its National Disaster Risk Management Office has validated the National Policy on Disaster Management.
The Dean of community health sciences at Njala University said the policy document incorporated in detail all the key components of disaster risk management including "preparedness, prevention and mitigation, and recovery and rehabilitation".
Dr. Bashiru M. Koroma said the policy was developed through focused and in-depth stakeholder consultations and was solidified with linkages from all existing policies. He concluded that the disaster risk management department hoped that the policy would get “the much-needed reinforced support from every sierra Leonean in order to effectively achieve disaster management objectives in Sierra Leone”.
Gabriel Rugalema, of the UN Family in Sierra Leone, said the UN appreciated Sierra Leone “for having taken the issue of disaster management very seriously" which he said had brought the country into the global community of nations planning and preparing effectively for disaster management.
He said the overexploitation of natural resources, unpredictable nature change, unplanned and unsecure construction of cities and towns were some of the reasons for the increment of disaster happenings, adding that he expected the validated policy to effectively tackle such issues.
Rugalema said it was necessary that Sierra Leone was preparing because it lacked the financial capability to handle disaster emergencies like advanced countries. He said he was anticipating a situation where the policy on disaster management would not just stop at validation and adoption, but that implementation would be enhanced.
Minister of State in the office of the vice President, Harriet Turay said the UN department on climate change had classified Sierra Leone as an extreme disaster risk nation after Bangladesh and Guinea Bissau. She said as a government they recognised the importance of such a situation hence they were taking seriously the preparation for any unexpected disaster, adding that they would not like to see a repeat of the disaster that befell the nation when the King Jimmy bridge collapsed leaving at least six people killed.
She said Government had provided over Le 600 million, in addition to external aid to meet the needs of victims of such disasters. She said their commitment was being communicated by the importance government attached to the policy document and would ensure the policy was effectively implemented once it was adopted. She concluded that “even though the government is putting itself on the alert, it acknowledged the challenges ahead, and have appealed to the international community to continue to help it to overcome the huge task of disaster management”.
(C) Politico 12/12/13
