Business
NEMA To Shut Down Beaches Without Safety Equipment
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has warned
that it would shut all beaches in Lagos that failed to provide safety
equipment.
Mr Farinloye Ibrahim, the Information Officer, South-West
Zone of NEMA, gave the warning last week while carrying out an assessmemt of
some beaches in Lagos, following Saturday’s ocean surge at Kuramo beach that
killed 16 people.
The beaches visited were Bar beach, Kuramo beach and Oniru
beach.
Ibrahim said that most beach operators did not have enough
safety equipment to forestall ocean surge.
According to Ibrahim, the assessment being carried out by
the agency shows that the beach lacked proper safety equipment which resulted
to the loss of life.
He urged all beach operators to acquire the necessary safety
equipment to mitigate such occurence.
“The necessary equipment are life jackets, first aid
equipment, trained swimmers, caution signs and others.
“All these equipment would help in reducing the casualty
rate, if the safety precaution measures are considered,“ he said.
He said that the agency would call for a stakeholders’
meeting to alert them on the dangers ahead, and the need to put in place safety
measures.
“Any beach operator that fails to comply will have his or
her beach closed.
“We have carried out our assessment and we found out that
some beaches may likely have this same problem if precautionary measures are
not taken,’’ he said.
He said that the agency would provide safety equipment in
all beaches in the state for emergency and rescue operations.