Parliamentarians question Minatd on disaster management

The situation of displaced populations in the eastern region due to the political and social crisis of the Central African Republic was a concern to national representation.

The Minister of Territorial Administration and decentralization (Minatd) was arraigned on the subject on Friday in the National Assembly, during the plenary devoted to questioning members of Government.

MP Paul Danata did note to Minatd that the presence of refugees in the region of the East of Cameroon is the reason for some friction with the local population and regrets the passiveness of the Directorate of civil protection.

Yet this branch is responsible, according to the organizational structure of the Minatd, for the General organisation of civil protection on all the national territory and the civil protection measures in times of war and peace, the follow-up and the management of aid, as well as to protect victims of calamities. "The direction of civil protection is poor and the Government appears not to take into account the problems of refugees. Is the population of the eastern region not important?" wondered the Kadéï MP.

To address the concern of the elected representatives of the people, René Emmanuel Sadi reminded them of the direction contained in the Decree of 13 April 2015 on the reorganization of the Minatd. But, he recognized that this problem is not new especially since the parliamentary session of November 2014, the same Member had informed the Prime Minister, Philémon Yang, of the social situation of the victims of the crisis in the Central African Republic.

"The directives are numerous, there is no need to add more. It handles emergencies such as the crash of Kenya Airways in 2005, floods in region of the North, the follow-up of degassing in Lake Nyos or mapping of areas at risk throughout the national territory. In the Central Africa zone-level, Cameroon occupies an honorable place in terms of civil protection," explained the Minatd.