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We need a National Emergency Response Team (NERT).

The time has come for us not to continue blaming the Government and take a leading role.

During the Cholera outbreak one of the resolutions was to set up a National Emergency Response Team (NERT) which will act when there is national disaster.

Among our Zimbabwe Institution of Engineers and the Engineering Council of Zimbabwe we have army personnel who are trained to be leaders in these kind of cases, when the infrastructure has been battered and damaged.

We should also bring in UN and humanitarian organisations like the Red Cross/Red Crescent.

Now that Cyclone Idai is upon us, we should urgently address this issue and build the NERT.

NERT is a volunteer driven program that brings together hundreds of volunteers nationwide, from a wide spectrum of talents, donate their time and energy assisting in a variety of NERT programs.

NERT will come up with ways of raising funds and will make sure all donations go directly to the cause of helping those affected by a disaster situation.

Furthermore, NERT will also assist in the creation of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program that educates volunteers about disaster preparedness for the hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organisation, and disaster medical operations.

The CERT will only be for disaster prone areas.

– Engineer Jacob Kudzayi Mutisi, chairman of the ICT Division of Zimbabwe Institution Engineers (ZIE), Member of the Engineering Council of Zimbabwe (ECZ), Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and a Member of Institute of Directors (IOD)