Sierra Leone’s National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) on Tuesday 17th August 2021, responded to ‘BOMEH’ fire victims at Kingtom as part of its core mandate, following a reported fire outbreak that ravaged 41 households on 2nd August.
According to the initial assessment, the cause of the fire outbreak is largely attributed to faulty electrical connections in one of the rooms that spread fast across and burnt down the entire makeshift structure with 13 houses and 41 households.
Welcoming NDMA’s officials at the scene, the Community Chief, Haja Ya Almamy Bangura, started by expressing her profound gratitude to the National Disaster Management Agency and Government of Sierra Leone for the timely response and the donation of assorted food and non-food items during these trying times.
“We thank the NDMA and government for remembering us; we never envisioned this, it was not our making, but was what God has destined to happen. We are in pain as we’ve lost all our properties to this fire disaster”, the Chief added.
She continued: “We are however appealing for more support from government and other agencies to quickly reconstruct our houses and move in”.
The sitting Councilor for Ward 431, Constituency 125, who is representing the victims in council, Murray A. Conteh equally expressed thanks and appreciation to NDMA for the swift response by providing food and non-food items for the victims including children.
He said he has been following the good work of NDMA across the country and that its intervention especially to the ‘BOMEH’ fire victims was a huge boost in helping them recover from the situation. The Councilor also joined Chief Bangura to appeal for more support from government and Non-governmental organizations to come to their aid.
Presenting the items on behalf of NDMA, Deputy Director of Relief and Response, Morlu Brewah solemnly sympathized with the victims, saying these were trying times for the victims, hence, the opportune time to respond. He furthered that people should pay attention to the type of communities they seek to live in and equally stop undertaking illegal activities that poses threat to their lives and properties.
Mr. Brewah also noted that when disasters occur, and God forbids there are losses of lives, no amount of support from NDMA or NGOs would bring them back. He encouraged them to be vigilant and report illegal activities that are inimical, and increase the vulnerability of their communities.
The Deputy Director presented 50kg bag of rice, vegetable oil, blanket, kettle, praying mat, and drinking bucket to each of the 41 households. Two tarpaulins were also shared among each of the 13 houses recorded during the assessment.
One of the victims Mohamed Mack Kamara, who was a beneficiary, on behalf of his colleagues thanked NDMA for considering their sufferings and intervened with such magnitude of support.
He said they are currently displaced, and that they are only being rescued by neighbors. He also joined others to appeal for more support especially zinc to enable them to rebuild their structures.
The National Disaster Management Agency will continue to execute its core mandates in disaster risk reduction and preparedness, monitoring, relief and response, and recovery in disaster-related issues across the country.
For More Inquiries
Directorate of Communications
National Disaster Management Agency
Contact: +23278388946
Email: elbamohamed12@gmail.com
