President Ramkalawan chairs second landfill-fire related meet |28 October 2022

Yesterday’s meeting in full swing (Photo: Louis Toussaint)

Authorities expected to improve emergency response by 2023

Following the second meeting chaired by President Wavel Ramkalawan and Vice- President Ahmed Afif regarding the landfill fire incident last month, the final Emergency Response Plan is expected to be ready by the end of January 2023.

Principal disaster management officer of the Disaster Risk Management Division (DRMD), Daniel Cetoupe, yesterday, upon concluding the meet noted that the first draft has already been prepared. However, it will only be finalised once authorities involved in safety and emergency response have acquired necessary equipment, and trained staff.

The provisions of the plan are to be put to the test through an exercise, prior to it being given the seal of approval.

During the first meeting on October 12, President Ramkalawan called on the relevant authorities, namely, the Seychelles Fire and Rescue Services Agency (SFRSA), the Landscape and Waste Management Agency (LWMA), the Industrial Estates Authority (IEA), police and government departments, namely land use, transportation and environment, to produce their Plan of Action within two weeks.

“Following the first meeting whereby we had action plans to prepare and bring forward, we separated it into two portions, the first portion being the equipment, towards finalising the plan,” Mr Cetoupe said.

“We have got the commitment from all agencies regarding when they will be ready to purchase these, those within their budgets and those not within the budget. This needs to be ready before the end of November and the closure of the budget,” Mr Cetoupe noted.

Equipment identified as imperative to fire management at the site include pumps, accessories and hoses, hydrants, and the stockpiling of coral fill, which also carries a cost. The Seychelles Infrastructure Agency (SIA) committed to pumping coral fill within the next four months.

A further meeting is to be held, focused on the means by which to put the plan in action, and establishing an effective system to facilitate coordination.

Progress has been made since the incident and post-mortem meeting, also chaired by President Ramkalawan and Vice-President Afif, which was held on October 2 at the Seychelles Institute of Teacher Education (SITE). The LWMA has already demarcated the landfill, demarcating the buffer area, the routes to be used in the event of such emergencies. Discussions are ongoing to map out where to locate pumps and other equipment.

President Ramkalawan was especially concerned about the radio network which is supposed to be utilised by the authorities in the event of national emergencies of such scale, to facilitate the inter-agency coordination. This follows the collapse of a tower of which he was not informed, an incident which occurred outside of the landfill fire.

“We are now reviewing all of our towers on which we have our radio network, and certain actions will have to be taken, despite the fact that the Division has already started to address this. This is now clearer for everyone – our plan regarding these communication towers,” Mr Cetoupe added.

During the landfill fire, the main mode of communication was through mobile phone.

Laura Pillay