ISLAMABAD, May 22: The federal government has invited the representatives of the provincial governments on Friday to finalize the preliminary draft on Emergency Services Ordinance-2002, which proposes to amalgamate civil defence and fire brigades departments for prevention and management of hazards.

An official source told Dawn that Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider would preside over the meeting which would be attended, among others, by the four home secretaries and provincial directors of the civil defence.

The source said it was the first draft the necessity of which was felt for quite some time, especially after the recent blaze at the Shaheed-i-Millat Secretariat.

Soon after the fire, the source said, the interior minister had directed to set up a task force on revamping of emergency services which found that there were no fire services laws in the country and that the emergency services responsible for rescue, fire and disaster management were deficient.