‘Fisheries Minister, please resign!’
June 13, 2013
Friday the 7th June turned out to be one of the worst nights for Sri Lanka, with howling winds, lashing rain, Tsunami-type ocean waves toppling fishing boats, fishermen fighting for their lives hanging onto upturned boats and clinging to floating debris – and none of us aware of the horrific hurricane which took so many lives. That night I watched live@8 as usual, but there was no hint of the impending disaster.
But, somehow I knew something was wrong due to the sudden heavy showers and trees swaying by 9 pm. Then at midnight the power went off (and restored by 2 pm the next day). The howling winds flung my massive trees with such extraordinary force I thought they would get uprooted.
I never even imagined there would be boats out at sea. What a tragedy for the fisherfolk who lost so many loved ones. It was heartbreaking to see on TV the families and neighbours gazing at the choppy sea hoping those missing would return.
What bothers me is the negligence of the authorities in not at least using the Tsunami-warning towers to warn fisherfolk. Weren’t these installed at various points around the island? Are they operational? If not, why? We all know, the impact of climate change is upon us – no doubt about that. We experienced a major hurricane only around two weeks ago (named after one of our great kings) and so we should have been prepared. I believe that international TV networks (including CNN) were hourly reporting on this particular hurricane with satellite photos etc, so why were serious warnings not given?
In fact, one of the English dailies (not The Island) which gives the weather forecast by area on its front page, misled the public in Colombo by forecasting "Fair Weather" on June 7 and 8,even though the hurricane ravaged Colombo and its suburbs, felling trees and so on.
The Fisheries Minister should be held responsible for the fishermen dead and missing because if he took his responsibilities seriously, he would have been in touch with the Dept of Meteorology on a daily basis and also ensured fishermen wore life jackets and carried rubber tyres to cling to if the boats overturned. I was surprised that the wearing of life jackets was not made a legal requirement. So, resign he must. Also, what was the Disaster Management Minister doing?
Linda Van Schagen
Mt. Lavinia
