Disaster management officials prep for floods
The National Committee for Disaster Management was preparing to ensure end-of-season floods did not compound the woes caused by months of drought, officials said yesterday. To minimise the effects of flooding, the NCDM had sent a request to the Council of Ministers for 16,000 tonnes of food and almost 9,000 soldiers, sailors and military police, along with other supplies including boats, NDCM representatives announced yesterday morning at a meeting of nearly 100 government officials and UN representatives. … Although this year’s drought has affected more than 10,000 hectares of rice across 14 provinces, according to a report released at the meeting, government ministries now needed to turn their attention from drought to flooding, Nhim Vanda, first vice-president of the National Committee for Disaster Management, said. … The government was in the process of drafting a disaster management plan, he said. …
