By KT Reporter
A mock disaster and emergency response exercise at Kabalega Industrial Park in Hoima District has shown that Ministries, departments and agencies lack emergency responses in case of an incident.
The drill organised by the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) was aimed at assessing the country’s capacity and readiness for Emergency Preparedness and Response to disasters such as fire incidents in the oil and gas sector.
The exercise, led by PAU as the coordinating agency for disaster preparedness in the sector, brought together licensed oil companies—TotalEnergies EP Uganda, CNOOC Uganda Ltd, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP Ltd), and the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC).
Key government agencies also participated, including the Ministry of Health, the Uganda Police Force, the Uganda People’s Defence Force, the Civil Aviation Authority, and district local governments from the Albertine Graben.
Joel Tumwebaze, PAU’s Manager for Health and Safety, who represented the Executive Director, noted that the drill exposed important gaps that must be addressed as Uganda prepares for its first oil.
“This exercise has helped us observe the challenges faced by MDAs (Ministries, Departments, and Agencies). Most lack even basic protective gear, and the biggest challenge remains building capacity,” said Tumwebaze.
“Today’s scenario only involved a few casualties, but the lack of manpower and equipment at the district level shows the need to boost capacity to handle emergencies in a sector where thousands of workers may be on site,” he added.
The drill simulated a fire outbreak with multiple casualties at a base camp and tested the ability of stakeholders to respond swiftly and in coordination.
The Uganda Police Force and the Ministry of Health took the lead in firefighting and medical response efforts.
Following the exercise, participants held a debriefing session to evaluate lessons learned and recommend measures to strengthen emergency preparedness across the sector.
The training was conducted by Glauben Industrial Services Ltd, a health, safety, and environment consultancy, to test the ability of government agencies to complement the oil companies’ own emergency response plans.
Justus Tumwesigye, Managing Director of Glauben Industrial Services Ltd, said while the international oil companies (IOCs) have robust emergency systems, government agencies must be ready to step in when incidents exceed company-level capacity.
He noted that frequent shifts in the security personnel make stability of the capacity hard to achieve.
“Oil is a national resource, and government agencies must be prepared. However, frequent changes in security leadership, such as District Police Commanders, hinder sustained capacity building.
There is also a need to harmonise standards so MDAs can match the high benchmarks of oil companies,” Tumwesigye observed.
Gen. Fredrick Rugadya, Head of the National Emergency Coordination and Operations Centre (NECOC) in the Office of the Prime Minister, called for regular drills.
“This is a national treasure; we cannot afford to prepare only occasionally. A disaster could be catastrophic. Stakeholders’ capacities must be strengthened continuously to ensure we are always ready,” said Rugadya.
The exercise was hailed as a critical step towards ensuring the oil and gas sector is fully prepared to manage emergencies as Uganda moves closer to its first oil production.
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