Browsing: Disaster Preparedness

Mauritius is the latest example. Just this Saturday, a grounded oil tanker, MV Wakashio, started spewing tonnes of oil into the Indian Ocean and as the norm on the continent, the country is ill prepared to respond.

Africa needs to do a much better job in disaster preparedness. The continent cannot and must not continue to operate on status quo basis, as though no emergency is bound to occur at some point.

The natives of Mauritius are left to device makeshift emergency responses in this case using ‘stuffed fabric sacks with sugar cane leaves to create makeshift oil spill barriers as tonnes of fuel leaking from a grounded ship put endangered wildlife in further peril…’ wrote Al Jazeera.

So, humans on the ground can take some sort of action but what of the marine life?  Most of which mark you, is endangered coral reef species.

Greenpeace says the fuel and …