The Indian Mercantile Association in Sierra Leone on Thursday presented a cheque for 250 Million Leones to the Director-General of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) in Freetown to support victims of the November 5 explosion that gutted many lives.
Speaking at the NDMA headquarters in Aberdeen, India’s High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Amb. Rakesh Arora extended condolences on behalf of his country and compatriots to the People and Government of Sierra Leone for the loss of many lives in the tanker explosion in Wellington in east-end Freetown.
Ambassador Arora revealed that six of the several people who sustained injuries on that day are receiving medical treatments at the Choithram Hospital on a free basis after he informed his audience that the hospital has contributed SLL30 million worth of medicines required for the treatment of those admitted in other hospitals.
The High Commissioner maintained that at this hour of grief, the Government of Sierra Leone through its agencies, especially NDMA, is trying to assist the affected families and arranging medical assistance highlighting how they would like to supplement those efforts,
On his part, the Director-General of NDMA, Lt Rtd Brima Sesay gave a summary of the agency’s efforts of the devastating and chaotic scene at Wellington and reported the death of 84 people discovered in the scene. He said the official number of people involved in the incident rose to 299, with 138 deaths. He said 54 people who sustained serious injuries died on treatment.
“It is indeed a big challenge for medical practitioners especially as the country lacks a specialized unit to treat such cases,” he stated, adding that out of those that are hospitalized 12 are in a very critical situation adding that the focus now is to see how much medical attention will be given to them. He also disclosed that a team of medical practitioners from Senegal, who are specialized in treating burns, is in town working alongside Sierra Leonean doctors to treat those that are admitted.
Dr Kishore Shankerdas, the Managing Director of Shankerdas & Sons, while expressing condolences suggested that it could be worthwhile if the NDMA bring the requisite stakeholders on board to strategize on how to prevent future occurrences of disasters of such a magnitude as the PMB Wellington Fire disaster.
He continued that NDMA and its related partners should embark on a robust sensitization drive to raise awareness on what and not what to do to prevent such a disaster from occurring and how to prevent being a victim stating that a special curriculum on that should be developed for school-going pupils. He also maintained that the SLRSA must regularly ensure the roadworthiness of vehicles that ply our streets and roads.
The highpoint of the occasion was the presentation of the cheque of Two Hundred and Fifty Million Leones by Dr. Kishore Shankerdas to the NDMA Director-General to be used for welfare measures for the affected families.
Receiving the cheque, the NDMA Director-General thanked, on behalf of the Government, the Indian Mercantile Association for what he described as a very timely gesture. He said he will convey the gesture to the requisite authorities and even the President praising the Indians for their usual prompt response to disasters even mentioning the Susan’s Bay Fire incident.
Responding to the suggestion made by Dr Kishore Shankerdas he said the NDMA has been doing a lot in the area of sensitization adding that the big challenge has to do with the attitudes of some people.
Climaxing the occasion was the taking of a group photo of NDMA members of staff and members of the Indian Mercantile Association in Sierra Leone.
