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Southern Africa States Plan Disaster Preparedness

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (PANA) - Countries in Southern Africa that had been adversely affected by the recent flooding in that region are arranging for contingency measures to avert a similar calamity.
The countries asked their defence ministers to meet urgently and prepare a more co-ordinated rescue and relief operation, during a meeting held in Pretoria Thursday.

During that meeting, ministers from South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe had been assessing what the individual countries had done to help flood victims who had suffered widespread devastation.

The meeting was chaired by South Africa's minister for provincial and local government Sydney Mufamadi.

The meeting noted the work done by the defence ministers of the concerned countries but urged them to review the state of readiness regarding rescue operations and relief distribution plans.

The meeting also resolved to request the SADC secretariat to convene as a matter of urgency, a meeting of all ministers responsible for disaster management in the region.

It is this meeting that will discuss the process, which will lead to the establishment of a regional institutional mechanism for disaster preparedness and management.

The ministers also expressed their appreciation at the contributions from all over the world that continue to pour into the affected areas.

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