IRIN Africa | = East Africa | Kenya | KENYA: Earthquake scare highlights emergency = response weaknesses | Early Warning Environment Urban Risk

From: Subject: IRIN Africa | East Africa | Kenya | KENYA: Earthquake scare highlights emergency response weaknesses | Early Warning Environment Urban Risk | News Item Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2007 09:55:43 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_00B7_01C7D28F.CB0558B0" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3138 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_00B7_01C7D28F.CB0558B0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73461 =EF=BB=BF IRIN Africa | = East Africa | Kenya | KENYA: Earthquake scare highlights emergency = response weaknesses | Early Warning Environment Urban Risk | News = Item

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KENYA: = Earthquake scare=20 highlights emergency response weaknesses

Photo:=20 Allan=20 Gichigi/IRIN

Dark = clouds=20 over Nairobi - disaster preparedness is sorely = lacking,=20 say analysts

NAIROBI, = 27 July 2007=20 (IRIN) - A series of earth tremors that caused panic = in the=20 Kenyan capital, Nairobi, has raised concerns over the=20 country's ability to respond to sudden major = disasters.=20

Major Stephen Sane, the acting head of Kenya's = National Disaster Operations Centre, said Kenya has = basic=20 rescue capacity but lacks specialised equipment=20 and emergency medical services needed in the = event=20 of a serious earthquake.

His unit was created = in 1998=20 after devastating floods, caused by the El Ni=C3=B1o = weather=20 pattern, wreaked havoc on Kenya's infrastructure. =

"Our=20 disaster preparedness appears to be ad hoc. It has not = been=20 taken seriously at the policy level," Sane told IRIN, = adding=20 that the country also lacked an emergency medical = service and=20 has to depend on the Red Cross.

According to = Jeanine=20 Cooper, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of=20 Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA-Kenya), Kenya is = =E2=80=9Cill-prepared=E2=80=9D to=20 respond to sudden catastrophes such as earthquakes or = a=20 terrorist attack.

She commended the country's=20 preparedness and early warning systems for drought, = but said=20 flood readiness =E2=80=9Cleft a lot to be = desired=E2=80=9D and could benefit=20 from risk mapping initiatives.

Lessons = from=20 history

Sane said little has been = learned from=20 the experiences of the American embassy bombing in = Nairobi in=20 1998. The explosion caused an adjacent four-storey = building to=20 collapse, burying hundreds of people. The Kenyan = government=20 had to ask for help from foreign rescue teams. Most=20 impressive, Sane said, were an Israeli team who = arrived in=20 Nairobi 24 hours after the blast and managed to save a = number=20 of people. The death toll from the attack was 213.=20

"The Israelis brought the realisation of the = need for=20 specialised training in search and rescue," said Sane. = A=20 Kenyan rescue unit has since been trained in Israel, = but the=20 government does not have the equipment to look for = bodies and=20 survivors buried under rubble.

When a building = under=20 construction in Nairobi collapsed in 2006, burying = dozens of=20 workers alive, Kenya had to once again seek Israeli = help.=20

Sane said a disaster management policy paper, = which=20 would pave the way for the formulation of legislation = on the=20 issue, has been awaiting Cabinet approval since 1999. = "We=20 should be more proactive," he said. =

Building=20 regulations

A series of earthquakes = and=20 tremors in July 2007 - whose epicentres were in = Tanzania, but=20 were felt strongly in Nairobi - prompted the = Architectural=20 Association of Kenya to express concerns over the lack = of=20 building law enforcement in the country.

The=20 association's chairman Gideon Mulyungi estimated that = 90=20 percent of buildings outside Nairobi's city centre = were not=20 constructed by professionals.

"We could have a = major=20 disaster on our hands in the event of a powerful = earthquake,"=20 he said. "We have been pushing the government to audit = all=20 buildings in Kenya to establish their safety." =

The=20 ministries of Public Works and Local Government = confirmed that=20 the audit was under way.

Photo:=20 Authentic=20 Tanzania

Ol'Donyo=20 Lengai is the Maasai =E2=80=98Mountain of = God=E2=80=99 and is an active=20 volcano on the Rift Valley escarpment near the = border=20 with Kenya. Its rumblings caused tremors in=20 Nairobi

Despite the = apparent slow=20 progress in adopting national disaster response = mechanisms, it=20 has been recognised that a regional approach to the = issue=20 could strengthen the state's capacity.

An=20 inter-governmental initiative, Golden Spear, supported = in part=20 by the US military, aims to strengthen regional = capacity in=20 disaster response and preparedness.

Egypt, = Djibouti=20 and Rwanda have already ratified an agreement, = establishing=20 the Golden Spear initiative. Kenya and Uganda are = expected to=20 follow suit in late August, according to Frank Sabwa, = finance=20 officer at the Disaster Management Centre of = Excellence in=20 Nairobi.

Other Golden Spear member states are = Burundi,=20 Democratic Republic of Congo, Seychelles and Tanzania. = Eritrea=20 and Ethiopia initially expressed willingness to join = the=20 initiative, but have not yet signed the memorandum of=20 agreement.

Sabwa said the ratified Golden = Spear=20 agreement would be passed on to the UN and the African = Union=20 to raise funding. Member states would also be able to = set=20 aside funding from their own national budgets. =

"The=20 initiative is expected to raise early warning = capacities=20 within acceptable levels and become an operational hub = for=20 information sharing and disaster response," said = Sabwa.=20

jn/sr/bp/mw

Theme(s): (IRIN) Early=20 Warning, (IRIN) Environment, = (IRIN) Urban=20 Risk

[ENDS]

[This=20 report does not necessarily reflect the views of the = United=20 Nations]

=20


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