Members of Parliament on Thursday approved the relevance of a Bill on disaster management which was tabled by the Minister of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (MIDIMAR), Seraphine Mukantabana.Mukantabana told MPs that the Bill aims at increasing and sustaining the resilience of vulnerable communities to hazards through diversification of sources of their livelihoods and coping mechanisms.Risk management encompasses such aspects as preparedness, mitigation, prevention, relief, recovery and rehabilitation. She explained that this represents a shift from short term plans to sustainable planning mechanisms.The draft law will be the central element of the country’s Disaster Risk Management Frameworkm she said.“This Bill aims to strengthen Disaster Management in Rwanda, in order to preserve life and to minimise suffering, losses and damages by providing sufficient and timely early warning and relevant information to the population on potential hazards that may result in disasters,” the minister said. “Legal issues are often invisible in emergencies, but effective disaster laws underpin the safety of our homes, the efficiency of emergency responders and the success of recovery efforts.”The current national disaster management policy gives statutory backing to the essential functions and agencies by defining their roles, duties and responsibilities but the legal framework will provide a legal basis to the policy.The legislation is expected to make provisions for critical policy elements including: measures undertaken by government for disaster management; role and responsibilities of disaster management bodies; and facilitating international assistance for disaster relief and recovery.Concern about experts With a law in place, the minister stressed, Rwanda will not only be better prepared in case of disasters “but also before and after a disaster.” Lawmakers approved the draft law’s relevance, but expressed concern over lack of local expertise in this field.MPs Jean Damascene MP Gasarabwe and Jacqueline Mukakanyamugenge asked the minister about the availability of local expertise in the field.Mukakanyamugenge said: “Do we really have experts who can ably detect imminent strong winds, tremors, or other disaster menaces as has happened in parts of the country before? Do we have experts in place, or are we planning to increase their number, if they do exist?” Gasarabwe said the country needs its own disaster management experts “who can ably do an evaluation of a catastrophe of any nature and scale, without us looking for foreign experts.”Mukantabana assured the lawmakers that the country currently has enough expertise of its own. “These experts are on hand and it is a fact that we strive for self reliance. However, this does not mean that we cannot welcome any others, depending on our capacity limits. Cleary, we have all the basics needed to ensure we are not taken unawares,” Mukantabana said.She referred to the country’s level of preparedness and research on potential violent winds, heavy rains, drought, locusts, and other calamities that are common insome countries.The minister said that government has finalised a needs assessment that indicated all the equipment required to be adequately prepared.The Bill will now be referred to a parliamentary committee where further scrutiny will be made before it is passed.
