The Cross River State emergency management agency bill 2016 has scaled through second reading at plenary of the House and was committed to the House committee on works to report back to the house in three (3) weeks.
The sponsor of the bill, member representing Boki 2 state constituency, Hon. Hilary Bisong stated that it is very necessary for the house to set up a regulatory agency (SEMA) that will oversee the operations of the agency and provision for the management of all this disaster.
Bisong maintained that the regulatory framework will help State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) attend to all the disaster affected areas and citizens, therefore proffering solution to their problems. He added that the bill will serve as a multi-dimensional approach that will help predict the future occurrence disasters such as flood, hurricane, communal clashes and earthquake in the state.
The co-sponsor of the bill, member representing Yala 2 state constituency , RT. Hon. Ogana Lukpata, recalled that flood is one of the major disaster faced by crossivarians being a riverine state and could be affected negatively and that the bill therefore needed a speedy passage.
Also contributing, member representing Akpabuyo state constituency, Hon. Elizabeth Edem Ironbar maintained that the bill talks about the management and prevention of natural disasters that could affect the state in future and that the bill therefore, was very important because it makes provision for the funding of the regulatory agency (SEMA) that sees to the solution of the affected areas and citizens.
