August 9, 2021
By: Ilyasa Baa
The National Disaster Management Agency has rescued over two thousand people mainly victims of wing storms since it started operation in November, 2020.
In the Eastern district of Kono alone over thirty disasters have been responded to the Western Area accounts for over seven hundred. About seventeen interventions were made in respect of churches and mosques after the roofs were blown away by storm.
The Director General, Lt-Gen Brima Sesay has said the main strength of the Agency is community engagement. He noted that there are about sixty vulnerable communities exposed to risk in Freetown. He pointed out that they have engaged community volunteers and even trained them on disaster mitigation especially in the slum communities. According to him, the Agency is constrained at the moment to provide adequate tools for the volunteers.
The separation of disaster management from the Office of National Security (ONS) was a manifesto promise of His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio. The transformation document separating disaster management from national security was signed by the President on 8th June, 2020.