The Director-General of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), retired Lieutenant-General Brima Sesay, on Monday informed the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Milton Margai Technical University (MMTU) about plans to construct a Center of Excellence for Disaster Management at the MMTU Goderich campus if the land was made available.
He made the disclosure during a meeting with top management staff of the two institutions at the Great Hall of the Goderich campus in Freetown.
The Director-General of NDMA commended the administration of MMTU for the new status, which he attributed to hard work. He disclosed that Sierra Leone was prone to disasters the reason the President created the Agency and that it was established by an Act of Parliament on 19th November 2021.
He revealed that the $2,100 grant Sierra Leone Urban Resilience Project funded by the World Bank was to build an Emergency Operations Center (EOC), and that the project was time bound to be implemented between 2021 and 2025. He appealed to the college’s administration to provide land for this all-important project.
According to retired Lieutenant-General Brima Sesay, the land for the construction of the EOC must be centrally located, adding that it would offer a lot of opportunities including capacity building for MMTU and nationwide. He revealed that they had formed a partnership with Bournemouth University in the United Kingdom to help in the teaching and development of a curriculum in Disaster Management in Sierra Leone, and recalled that the same University recently conducted a research on the issue in the country.
He assured the staff of MMTU that the advantages of offering the land to NDMA for the construction of the Center of Excellence could not be quantified.
The Vice-Chancellor and Principal of MMTU, Dr Philip John Kanu, said he was pleased to welcome the team from NDMA, adding that MMTU would take advantage of the opportunity for NDMA to use its land as there were other institutions of higher learning in the country. He noted that it was a lucky moment for the MMTU.
Dr Kanu also recalled that the institution used to produce the best teachers in the country and highlighted its various transformation from a college, polytechnic and now Technical University. He underscored that the institution must address societal problems confronting the country.
According to the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of MMTU, disaster issues were for all citing massive sand mining, cutting down of trees, building of houses on hilltops and suggested that a course in Disaster Management at MMTU would help address the issue for which, he reiterated, MMTU was ready to support the process.
Highlights of the meeting were the presentation of books/reports/materials to MMTU by NDMA while the vote of thanks was rendered by the Vice Principal and Director of Studies, Dr. Mohamed Alie Jalloh.