Gov Lalong to strengthen SEMA. 

By Golok Nanmwa ,Jos

Plateau State Governor, Simon Simon Lalong has announced that his administration will soon restructure and reorganize the State Emergency Management Agency to make it more responsive to humanitarian and natural disasters. 

Lalong, who was represented by his deputy, Prof. Sonni Tyoden announced this when members of the Disaster Management and Mitigation Platform(DMMP) , launched by Christian Aid, an international non governmental organization, paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Jos on Thursday . 

He further said that the State House of Assembly had already passed the State Emergency Management Agency bill into law, adding that recent developments in the state had made it imperative to improve on the operations of SEMA. 

The Governor appreciated the critical role early warning and early response could play in disaster management, and commended Christian Aid for choosing the state for the pilot program. 

Earlier, the leader of the delegation and Program Officer for Disaster Management and Peace Building in Plateau State, Mr Sendi Dauda said the state was among 3 states selected by Christian Aid to build capacities of communities for early warning and early response to flood disasters. 

He stated that 3 communities each in Jos North, Jos East and Shendam Local Government Areas had been chosen for the pilot program, where stakeholders would be trained on how to identify early warning signs of flooding and how to manage them when they occurred. 

Mr Dauda, who was accompanied on the visit by representatives of SEMA, NEMA, non governmental organizations, Red Cross and the Ministry of Information and Communication, also said that the SEMA staff would be trained in disaster management and mitigation to boost their preparedness to respond to disasters, especially flooding.

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Gov Lalong to strengthen SEMA