By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay and Francis Murray
Members of Parliament have highlighted major loopholes in the National Disaster Management Agency Bill that was brought in front of the house on Thursday, causing a delay in passing it as expected.
The concerns raised about the bill ranged from the leadership of the board, the necessity of the agency itself, its function and possible overlap of functions with similar institutions.
On Thursday, during a very long debate, Speaker of Parliament Dr Abass Bundu, said: “I have not seen anywhere, any mention of the importance of disaster prevention before it occurs. The closest thing to that in the bill is Disaster Risk Assessment.”
During the debate, Hindolo Ngevao, Chairman of the Legislative Committee and a Member from the governing Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), said there was a need for each of the related agencies that are represented in the board of the proposed agency to have a clear role and function.
“We want to see where their functions are separated, so [that] their roles won’t overlap,” he said.
If established, the agency will be responsible to manage and coordinate disaster related issues.
In his presentation to the Legislative Committee on Wednesday, Director of Disaster Management at the Office of National Security (ONS), John Rogers, noted that if the bill was passed, the agency would be responsible for disaster preparedness, prevention, mitigation, response and recovery.
‘‘The President in his opening statement in parliament pointed the need for the establishment of a National Disaster Management Agency. This is tied up with international requirements. The international strategy for disaster reduction, which is a global establishment within the United Nations, have been making calls for the establishment of an independent, standalone National Disaster Management Agency across the length and breadth of the 64 countries on the continent,’’ Rogers said.
During the pre-legislative meeting, Ngevao expressed his opinion on the possible difficulties the bill might face if it was to be passed on Thursday.
‘‘Your object is to get members of Parliament to grasp the nitty-gritties of your bill. If you succeed in captivating us, then your job, when the bill is tabled tomorrow, will be easy. But if you fail in getting us understand the purpose of this bill, then you’ll be standing a risk of having it committed for proper understanding of same,” he said.
The bill states that the Vice President will be the Chairman of the Board of Directors, and that the board of directors will have immunity from prosecution. It also provides for agencies that are working around disaster to be part of the board.
The bill is being pushed through by the Office of the Attorney General on behalf of the ONS. ONS already has a Disaster Management Department within its organizational set up.
The Chairman of the newly established Environment Committee in parliament, Ibrahim Tawa Conteh of the SLPP, said he couldn’t understand why the agency wasn’t established as directorate under the newly established Ministry of Environment.
“If Parliament agrees for the creation of this agency, let it be under the supervision of the Ministry of Environment. Or better still, why not establish it as a directorate under the Ministry of Environment?” Conteh said during the debate.
Catherine Zainab Tarawally, a lawmaker with the main opposition All Peoples Congress, supported the view of Hon. Conteh.
She asked: “What is the essence of the Ministry of Environment? What is the essence of EPA? Or the ONS? I am thinking that this should be under the Ministry of Environment.”
She added: “We cannot have a Ministry of Environment without having a directorate responsible for disaster.”
Sahr Francis Bendu of the Coalition for Change added his voice to calls for the strengthening of EPA, noting: “For now I am of the opinion that we will empower the EPA and bring all those other bodies under them.”
The creation of this agency will now mean that Sierra Leone will now have at least five ministries and agencies working around disaster in the country.
In 2017, the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery ranked Sierra Leone as the third most vulnerable country to the effects of climate change.
The country is particularly prone to flooding. Almost every year it is hit by flooding. In 2017 a mudslide in Regent in the Western Rural Area killed over 600 people after hours of torrential rains.
In the last decade, Sierra Leone has also had to deal with deadly epidemics of Ebola and Cholera.
The formation of this agency could be a way of having a permanent infrastructure to deal with such disasters, but the contentions on the details means a lot more need to be done to reach a final agreement.
Attorney General, Priscilla Schwartz, said they would look in to addressing some of the concerns the lawmakers raised.
She however said the President had the right to delegate the responsibility of leading the board of the agency to anyone, including the Vice President.
She added that the issue of disaster was “intricately linked with security issues”, hence it falls out of the remit of a ministry like the Ministry of Environment.
The debate on the bill was adjourned by the Speaker of Parliament to next Thursday, who urged all MPs to thoroughly read relevant sections of other related agencies, for a proper debate at the next seating.
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