The Abia <\/a>State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, has inaugurated Local Emergency Management Committees, LEMCs, for the 17 LGAs in the state in a bid to enhance disaster preparedness and response.<\/p>\n Inaugurating the committees on Thursday, the Executive Secretary of SEMA, Sunday Jackson, said the committees which have the LGA mayors as their chairmen, would serve as first responders in their respective areas when disasters occur.<\/p>\n Jackson said the Federal Government, through the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, had instructed all the states in the federation to set up LEMCs to enable them to respond promptly to disaster.<\/p>\n He emphasised the importance of decentralising emergency coordination for rapid response, saying that necessary resources would be made available to the committees for effective response.<\/p>\n He commended Gov. Alex <\/a>Otti for taking proactive measures to mitigate disaster risks.<\/p>\n Speaking at the inauguration, NEMA\u2019s Head of Operations in charge of Imo and Abia <\/a>states, Mr Nnamdi Igwe, said that LEMC inauguration was very important to assist the Federal Government in disaster management.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, all emergencies shouldn\u2019t be centered at the top, it\u2019s also supposed to be local, where the locals have to go in for assessment.\u201d<\/p>\n Addressing members of the local emergency management committees, the Secretary to the Abia <\/a>State Government, Professor Kenneth Kalu, charged them to be diligent in their duties, assuring them of government\u2019s adequate support.<\/p>\n During the inauguration, some emergency kits were given to representatives of the committees in each LGA.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n