A robust disaster management Bill will feature prominently on the business paper of the incoming parliament.

The draft law being sponsored the government is the first of its kind in the country and officials say it is intended to establish disaster management mechanisms in the country.

The Bill seeks, among other things, the establishment of a disaster response fund and a national disaster management executive committee whose composition shall be determined by a prime minister’s order.

Officials say the setting up of the committee ensures co-ordinated response in the event of disaster while the fund will enable the government and other actors to have a pool of resources to fall back to while dealing with disaster assessment and recovery initiatives.

The government shall be making budgetary allocations to the fund, to which donors will be encouraged to contribute to.

Once enacted, the proposed law, which is likely to appear on the initial business paper of the new House, will require that core concepts of disaster risk reduction are integrated in the activities of each relevant government institution at the national and local level.

This, officials say, will enable timely responses without waiting for directions from the centre as is the case currently.

“The National Disaster Management Executive Committee shall advise the Cabinet for the declaration of state of emergency as well as the initiation and termination of international assistance,” the proposed law reads in part.

The law is expected to guide the reduction of the risk of disaster through systematic efforts to analyse and manage the causal factors of disasters through reduced exposure to hazards, lessened vulnerability of people and property, wise management of land and the environment and improved preparedness for adverse events.

Disaster management experts working with humanitarian agencies say such a law would streamline processes of responding to disasters because it apportions roles.

For instance, the Foreign Affairs ministry has to ensure personnel of eligible actors in the disaster management exercise are issued with disaster visas while Customs department has to clear goods meant for disaster recovery effort.

Under the wide-ranging draft law, information and communication technology is mandated to also grant priority to emergency responders over domestic users with the exception of security forces and ambulances.

The City of Kigali is involved in shifting settlements from the hill slopes to safer areas. The recent wave of floods that hit countries in the region saw most of the houses in vulnerable areas of the city swept away by rainwater or collapse under mudslides. A number of people died in the incidents.

READ: After death and damage by rains, famine looms in Rwanda

Government statistics on damages occasioned by the floods, which happened in May, paint a gloomy picture. Countrywide, 918 hectares of farmland were washed away, 2,422 houses destroyed, 58 people killed and at least 87 injured.

A main road linking Kigali to the food-rich home of the famous mountain gorillas, the northern part of the country, was destroyed and demobilised for some time.

This region is also vulnerable to volcano eruptions from Nyiragongo Mountain in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rwanda Meteorology Services officials have already warned that the country will be hit by floods during the coming rainy season due to effects of climate change. At the onset of rains late last month, a number of properties were destroyed and cattle killed by heavy flooding.

Experts say countries need to adopt actions that will enable them overcome disasters arising from climate change, such as putting up resilient infrastructure generally and having comprehensive response mechanisms like this particular legislation.