President Wavel Ramkalawan accompanied by the Vice-President Ahmed Afif chaired the second meeting following the recent landfill fire that occurred at Providence. The meeting was held at State House yesterday afternoon with relevant authorities and agencies.

The first meeting of the committee was held on 12 October, where President Ramkalawan commissioned them to produce their respective Action Plans.

The meeting started with a presentation by the Deputy CEO of Landscape and Waste Management Agency, Mr. Rahul Mangroo, where he explained the proposed Seychelles National Landfill preparedness plan, which included the budget, location where the landfill has been demarcated, buffer area, the routes to be used in the event that there is an emergency, and other important aspects for emergency response plan.

This was followed by discussions where each entity briefed the meeting on how far they are with the purchasing of equipment. From the SFRSA, they shared an updated list of new equipment they urgently require. The meeting also discussed strategic locationsfor the installation of water pumps and other equipment at the landfill.

To be noted that though the first draft of the Emergency Response Plan has been prepared, it will only be finalized once all authorities from the different entities involved in safety and emergency response acquired the necessary equipment, and trained staff.

The next meeting will focus on the means by which all respective entities will put the plan into action and establishing an effective system to facilitate the coordination.

Also present at State House for the meeting was the Minister for Internal Affairs, Mr. Errol Fonseka, Minister for Land and Housing, Mr. Billy Rangasamy, Minister for Environment, Agriculture and Climate Change, Mr. Flavien Joubert, CEO of Infrastructure, Mr. Jitesh Shah, CEO of the Industrial Estate, Mr. Roy Collie, CEO of SFRSA, Ms. Tallie Domingue, Deputy CEO of SFRSA, Mr. Jones Madeleine and other SFRSA officials, the Deputy CEO of Landscape and Waste Management Agency, Mr. Rahul Mangroo, the Director General of DRMD, Mr. Robert Ernesta, and other DRMD officials.