LAHORE, March 8: Interior Secretary Tanseem Noorani said here on Saturday that the Draft Emergency Services Bill would be submitted to parliament after giving due consideration to objections to it.

But those pursuing it must remember that mere writing laws had not changed things in the past nor would this happen in future. Things could improve only by taking the main stakeholders along, he said while speaking at the ‘national conference on capacity building for emergency response’ here at NIPA.

Interior Ministry’s task force former representative and UNDP consultant on emergency services, Dr Rizwan Naseer, presented a report on the emergency response services in Pakistan and urged the need for adoption of the emergency services draft bill.

Without mentioning amendments by the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) during the Musharraf government, Noorani said for improving things it required cooperation of the mainstream people of the field at the grassroots level.

“Trying to improve things through mere legislation is dangerous. For improvement one needs revolutionary and evolutionary approach, long-term planning and cooperation of the main stakeholders,” he said.

Mr Noorani said the government would ask the assembly to pass the bill but it required another effort to seek around Rs 1 billion for providing related facilities.

He said it was correct to assume that the government should provide every facility in the country but it had its own problems like rules, accountability, resources and priorities.

The secretary said the civil defence department had been performing well but all was not well with it. The department, too, had been at the bottom of government’s priority list.

Responding to a demand by other speakers for the replacement of the civil defence network with a new structure of emergency services in the country, he said the department could not properly function because of lack of resources and recognition. The secretary said the main deficiency in the emergency services had been the firefighting capacity which should be improved to prevent disaster. Dr Rizwan dilated upon the lack of facilities to tackle emergencies in Pakistan and suggested ways to minimize loss to life and property, especially in fire incidents.

He said gaps were enormous in the filed of emergency relief services in the country and urged the need for adopting concrete steps for their provision on modern lines.

Dr Rizwan demanded adoption of the bill which, he said, would help form emergency service and establish the ‘national emergency response and safety council’ in the country.

He demanded expansion and strengthening of the emergency police system with at least one open, customer-friendly and fully equipped centre in every district. It should serve as the communication and coordination centre for other services, he said.

Dr Rizwan demanded a single universal emergency telephone number in the country, training of the existing civil defence and firebrigade staff and establishment of an emergency service academy.