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| Sunday, 6 February 2005 |
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Tsunami warning : Presidential Commission to inquire official lapses by P. Muttiah President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has decided to appoint a one-man Presidential Commission to inquire into whether there were any lapses on the part of various institutions and departments that are responsible for warning the people on natural disasters. The President's Office said this one-man Commission would also inquire, whether there could have been any possibility to minimise the loss of life, if there were no lapses on the part of the authorities. There had been a number of complaints made by various sources that relevant authorities had failed to warn the people on the impending tsunami disaster. Several institutions were closed on December 26, the day tsunami hit the Sri Lankan coastal areas. The President's Office told the Sunday Observer, that a retired Supreme Court Judge would be appointed to the Presidential Commission. UPFA Parliamentarian and President's Counsel Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, has requested the President to appoint a Commission to inquire into any lapses or omissions on the part of relevant authorities by failing to communicate to people of coastal Sri Lanka an advance warning of the tsunami disaster. Rajapakse, in his letter to the President says that this was in view of relevant web-sites carrying warning messages to all nations from the tsunami warning centre in Honolulu and also in view of the claims that efforts to contact relevant authorities in Sri Lanka by them, had failed since there was no response at this end. The Parliamentarian also called for the Commission to probe inter alia whether the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau had failed in its duties in not informing people in advance about the impending tsunami. Rajapakse requested the President to appoint the Commission as a matter of priority so that the country could be geared to prevent or minimise damage in future disasters. |
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