The Director General of
the national Emergency Management Agency NEMA Mustapha Maihaja says the State
Emergency Management Agency SEMA are the weakest links it has in disaster
response management in the country. The Director General of the agency made this
known when members of the Senate Committee on Special Duties led by Senator
Abdulaziz Nyako visited NEMA as part of
its oversight.
The Director General of
the agency while answering a question from the Chairman of the Committee said
there is poor funding of SEMA and most of them are understaffed.
He also said
it will be difficult to close down the Intenal Displaced Persons camps because
most international organisations are opposed to it. He also said the
International Humanitarian Law IHL prevents the closure of the camps because it
has not met the requirement for its closure.
The NEMA DG stated that disaster
managers are doing distributions in IDP camps in Borno and Adamawa states and
those in the camps are fed daily.
While answering
questions from reporters, the Chairman of the Committee Sen. Nyako decried the
poor funding of the National Emergency Management Agency stressing that it is
affecting disaster management in the country. ''it is sad that when the budget
for the committee is prepared, les than twenty percent is released and this is
not good for a country that has so much disaster challenges'' he said.
Sen. Nyako said the
Committee was impressed by the presentation of the Director General but said
they should start working on the budget for next year in order to help the
committee work on it on time.
Other Senators who were
part of the oversight visit are Sen. Kabiru Gaya and Sen. Frank Ogbuewu.
Comments
Post a Comment