It is good to have a confident Minister. Of course, we would sleep better if we were shown the results of some on-the-ground simulations, rather than given bland assurances. After all some of us remember his statements about the large number of warning towers that would be erected and operational by the second anniversary of the tsunami (and the actual outcome was . . . .One?):
Another noteworthy matter is that the Minister has increased the time get the warning out within the country to 30 mts from 23 mts. More realistic? Perhaps he will give us a corrected, realistic figure on warning towers as well?
Sri Lanka News | Online edition of Daily News – Lakehouse Newspapers
Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe assured Sri Lanka was now having technology to alert coastal areas within 45 minutes of a possible tsunami triggering earthquake in the region.Addressing reporters at the Disaster Management Ministry yesterday, he said the set up was not 100 per cent perfect but the country was better prepared now than before the December 2004 tsunami.
“When there was this recent Sumatra quake of 7.5 points, a message from the Hawaii Tsunami Warning Centre reached my desk within 15 minutes that Sri Lanka will not be affected. Through our network we can now alert the coastal residents within 30 minutes afterwards.”
The Minister said they have now put in place an early warning centre which is working 24/7 but they were still in the process of perfecting the network.
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