Hyacinth Chinweuba
Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), is about rejuvenating its operations on Lagos State waterways, to further complement efforts of the State waterways agency, the marine police and other relevant stakeholders to ensure adequate safety of the commuting populace of Lagos water.
The Public Affairs Unit of LASEMA Mr. Adebayo Kehinde stated in a statement that the Director General/CEO Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu disclosed this during an interactive session with members of Staff at the Safety Arena, Bolade Oshodi.
He stated that in order to further enhance the presence of the agency on the waterways and reduce response time to scene of emergencies on water, the Response Unit of the Agency on the Lekki corridor would now be serving as the Marine response centre for the agency solely dedicated to emergency surveillance and response on water.
The LASEMA boss who decried the rate of boat mishap on Lagos waters in recent time, said that the situation is a wake-up call on all emergey responders to restrategise their operations and rise up to the challenge with a view to nipping the occurrence in the bud.
Osanyintolu also added that the agency will re-energize its coordination mechanism by rekindling old and tested tools of coordination and partnership while also venturing into new relationships and sharpening the Agency’s network and linkages to ensure better defined collaborations and cooperation.
According to him “the LASEMA Established Act as amended in 2005 (section 5(1-4) mandates the Agency to coordinate and integrate disaster management in Lagos State, and to successfully accomplish this task, the Agency is venturing into new relationships and sharpening the Agency’s network and linkages to ensue better defined collaborations.
He averred that the position of the Agency is in sync with the efforts of the administration of Mr. Babajide Sanwo-olu to provide adequate safety of lives and properties through workable and achievable programmes and strategies, aimed at improving efficiency in the delivery of disaster management in the State.
He noted that the Agency has established three zonal coordinating offices at the 3 Senatorial districts of the State with zonal coordinators and three Unit Bases at Cappa, Onipanu on Ikorodu Road and Command & Control Centre, Alausa, this he said is to enhance timely response and reduce challenges arising from over centralization.
The DG explained that the establishment of an Emergency Operation Centre in the State capital is imminent and of great urgency, noting that the centre will assist in the decentralization of the management of any major incident in the State, by providing direction, assign responsibility, instill accountability and measure progress.
Osanyintolu further hinted that being both a coordinating and response Agency, the Agency intends to embark on three key levels of enhancement for training projects which includes; Approval for Agency’s Training Policy, Training curriculum for Agency to fill gaps identified in disaster management and designation of a training centre for the Agency which will also be the first in the country to efficiently put together resources that meet the Agency’s specific functional and training needs.