In an interview, Seman said although EMO and CNMI-Homeland Security have overlapping jurisdictions, the two agencies have different authorities.
This means the merger won’t necessarily result in redundancy of jobs. The local Homeland Security office has 10 employees while EMO has 20, most of whom are dispatch personnel.
“So far everybody remains,” Seman said, adding they will only have to evaluate each position within each division of the two agencies.
The merger, Seman said, aims to better manage the functions of Homeland Security and EMO and ensure a quicker response in times of disasters.
“Putting them together makes both more efficient,” he added.
Right now, when a disaster happens, Seman said both EMO and Homeland Security have to respond. This means two sets of personnel have to handle clearly defined and separate authorities.
Seman said there are EMO programs that are federally funded and once the merger happens, more savings will be realized.
Under the merger, Seman will be the authorized representative and state coordinator office while EMO Director Jack Omar will be his deputy.
