Bill on Ogun emergency agency underway
A bill to legalise the activities of the Emergency Management Agency in Ogun State would soon be passed by the House of Assembly, the Commissioner for Environment, Ayo Olubori, has disclosed.
This is just as the National Emergency Agency (NEMA) warned that this year’s rainy season may cause havoc in Abeokuta and its environs.
Olubori, during a One-day workshop on “Comprehensive Disaster Management with focus on 2014 flood prevention, Preparedness and Mitigation,” organised by the South-west zone of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Abeokuta, said the state would tap on the gains of the law to project SEMA in the state.
He said the draft bill to ensure the materialisation “had been forwarded to the appropriate quarters for its consideration and subsequent enactment,” adding: “SEMA will be fully equipped with the state of the art emergency rescue equipment with the sole aim of reducing to its barest minimum, the loss of lives and properties, that may occur due to various environmental hazards in our state.”
Olubori, who was represented by a Special Adviser, Mr. Tunji Sanusi, appealed to the NEMA to compliment the state government in assisting the victims of rainstorm disaster, which occurred at Ijebu-Igbo recently.
The commissioner added: “The workshop would afford the government the opportunity to identify the challenges facing us as a people, with regards to flooding and its related environmental hazards. It will also serve as platform to exchange ideas and come up with workable recommendations to adequately tackle the situation, in flood prone areas of our state.”
The Zonal Coordinator, South-west zone of NEMA, Alhaji Iyiola Akande, said holding the workshop became necessary in view of the alert raised by the National Meteorological Agency (NiMet), on Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP), which indicated that abnormal rainfall should be expected in Sokoto, Yola, Shaki and Abeokuta.