The Office of National Security Has Conducted a Two Days Training for Disaster Management Committee

By Prince Musa

The Office of National Security (ONS), with funds from the UNDP, has conducted a two-day training on disaster management at the District Council Hall on Nyandeyama Road in Kenema. The 14 October training involved participants from the police, military, civil society, fire force and other community stakeholders.

According to the ONS Provincial Security Coordinator, Samuel Bullie, the training was designed to build the capacity of the disaster management committee members at district level in disaster management. He reminded participants that the disaster management department in the ONS was charged with the responsibility to coordinate and oversee all national security measures, assuring that that the training would broaden the horizon of the participants to enable them map out disaster hazard areas and identify the prone areas.

Bullie maintained that the training would also enhance the team to put strategies in place on how to tackle some major disasters in case of outbreaks.

Assistant Director of Disaster Management at ONS, Sinnah Mansaray, said the session would help raise more awareness on disaster issues in the society. He said over ten million human deaths were connected with disaster issues worldwide hence disaster matters were of a global concern.

He said that as a country and district there was the need to plan ahead of the disaster outbreak, and implored participants to work together in responding to any cases of disaster.

The disaster management officer at the UNDP, Margaret Dauda, told the trainees that Climate Change and weather patterns mostly contributed to disasters, adding that unplanned urbanisation of settlements, mining and deforestation were causing environmental disasters. She stated that flooding, fire outbreak, and wind were part of the major disaster-causing agents leading to deaths and relocation of settlements of people.

She assured her audience that disaster couldn’t be managed by one organisation, rather needed the contribution of different sectors.

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