Against the backdrop of the recent fire incident at the Next Cash and Carry Shopping Mall at Kado district, the Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency, (FEMA), has coordinated a general review meeting with stakeholders to determine the way forward, as directed by the Hon Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq.
Declaring the meeting open, the Director- General of FEMA Alh. Abbas Idriss assured that the meeting was aimed at reviewing and producing a report jointly by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), FCT Emergency Management Agency-FEMA, and the FCT Fire Service.
Alhaji Idriss informed me that the report will contain both coordination and response aspects. “We will come up with very good recommendations on both sides, which will be a yardstick for the government to take the right decision in ensuring public safety in our public buildings.
“The most important thing is that when we identify the problems, we must provide possible and implementable recommendations that are measurable and achievable. He said.
The Director General of NEMA, Ahmed Mustapha Habib who was represented by the Deputy Director, Operations, Alh Bashir Idris Garga, stated that the current state of safety modules and measures especially in mega cities like Lagos and Abuja call for concern.
“Our safety modules and measures are in shambles, the earlier we accept them the better; fire incidences have become a recurring decimal in our national life, if it’s not in Abuja, it’s in Lagos, it’s in Kano, it’s in Port Harcourt, dealing with the mega cities.”
He requested that the report harmonization process expand its scope towards owners of big edifice “to rejig their safety measures.”
The meeting was attended by FEMA, NEMA, and the FCT Fire Service.
