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Organisations that cannot sleep

At a time when honesty and plain-spokenness are considered rare among public figures in general and politicians in particular, Science and Technology Minister Professor Tissa Vitharana has been quoted as saying at a recent press conference that failure on the part of the Government to address some of its shortcomings contributed towards the recent tsunamic-spurred devastation in the country. We thank and applaud the Minister for his honesty and openness.

We cannot put things right if those holding responsible positions in this country shy away from the truth. Accordingly, we hope Prof. Vitharana's example would be emulated by others in public life.

It goes without saying that this is not the occasion for the "blame-game" which is fast becoming a national pastime. The country has to be re-built and our fervent prayer is that every woman, man and child in this country would rise to the challenge of putting Sri Lanka back on its feet.

Having lauded Professor Vitharana for his honesty, however, we consider it obligatory on our part to respectfully put the record straight on some other comments he had reportedly made at the press conference.

Going into the difficulties faced by State sector bodies, such as the Pallekelle natural disaster monitoring centre and the National Building and Research Organisation, in receiving the tsunami alert from Hawai and warning the authorities and the public in time, Prof. Vitharana had apparently drawn attention to the fact that December 26 was a public holiday when all public sector officials could be expected to be on holiday. He had then asked the journalists present whether they don't cease from working on public holidays.

Apparently, this important question by the Minister had drawn no response from the journalists present. Lest a misleading impression is created by this apparent silence, we consider it obligatory to clarify that at least we at Lake House work on public holidays and on traditional holidays, such as Sundays.

There is no question of news organisations going into a slumber on public holidays or otherwise and if they do, this could be considered a serious dereliction of duty. We wish place on record that although Lake House Editorial Departments do not usually operate with their full cadre of staff on public holidays, essential personnel always work on such days, in view of the onerous responsibilities on our hands. News organisations just cannot go to sleep.

These are essential, to meet and deal with any emergency whatever their nature. They must be vigilant round the clock bad whether or foul. So far this country has not paid sufficient attention to the Met Department or its operations.

It is not too long ago that the Met Department could not predict a short sharp storm emanating from the Bay of Bengal, where Colombo's roads were clogged and flooded. One of the main reasons given was that the gullies were blocked by polythene bags.

In fact all essential services, such as the armed forces, police, train and bus services, airports and harbours, work round-the-clock; working days or otherwise.

The time may be right to extend the same arrangement to all institutions dealing with subjects related to national safety and well being, such as organisations charged with overlooking the natural environment.

Need we say that natural disasters cannot differentiate between public holidays and working days. Like "news", they may occur at any moment.

Unfortunately forgetting fast and slumping into amnesia is a national trait among Lankans. Once the after effects of the present disaster wear off, we wonder whether the authorities would forget that we have to be on a 24-hour alert for natural disasters and other disturbances which could take life and limb?

This mindset needs to change. We need to be alert to the possibility of natural disasters occurring at any moment, although we should not be paranoid about it. Besides, the forewarning systems should be manned and operative "25 hours" a day.

Be safe, not sorry

There has been much talk about an early warning system for tsunamis in the wake of the 12/26 cataclysm. The Pacific Rim already has a highly effective system, but the Indian Ocean has simply been forgotten in drawing the tsunami map.

The previous tsunami in the Indian Ocean was in 1833 - there's nobody alive who can remember that - so there was no real urgency to install a warning system for the region.

The rest, as they say, is history. Indian Ocean countries are now keen to have their own tsunami warning system, amid allegations that their existing meterological/geological offices had not acted quickly enough on the available earthquake information.

Critics claim that such action could have saved thousands of lives. Thailand has already taken disciplinary action against some of its Met Office staff for failing to take the earthquake seriously.

Signs are emerging that Asia is slowly but steadily taking the necessary steps to install a warning system. Basically, an early warning system involves placing instruments on buoys out at sea linked to satellites.

Experts from the US Geological Survey (USGS) have just completed a survey of Sri Lanka's coastline to identify sites for a possible tsunami early warning system.

Four USGS teams have been at work in various parts of the country identifying sites hit the hardest by the enormous waves. The data is being fed into a computer-generated model being developed for the entire Indian Ocean region.

A number of foreign governments, among them Japan and Germany, have offered financial and technical support to install a tsunami early warning system in the Indian Ocean, which is now more vulnerable to earthquakes and subsequent tsunamis owing to the appearance of new earthquake faults in the region.

Even if a warning system is installed in two to three years, maintaining it will not be an easy task, given the apathy that sets in after a couple of years. Such a system's control centres have to be manned by qualified personnel on a 24/7 basis.

It is widely believed that personnel working at geological offices of the affected countries were on holiday over the Christmas weekend. Such liberties should not have been taken in the first place, as the massive death toll shows. Nevertheless, such lax attitudes should not prevail at least when a new warning system is in operation.

The tragedy has also driven home the importance of Asian unity. Close cooperation among Asian countries will lead to a more prosperous region that can defend itself against any calamity, man-made or natural.

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