Web of Life

Environment Minister A.H.M. Fowzie has scoffed at calls for his resignation over the alleged failure of the Geological Bureau officials to warn the country of the tsunami disaster on December 26. He also said he did not think it necessary for the officials to face a disciplinary inquiry.

Mr. Fowzie, under whose purview the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) comes, told The Sunday Times there was no need to take disciplinary action or hold an inquiry. “However, since there is growing protest about this, we will appoint a committee," he said.

As the minister in charge, Mr. Fowzie said he did not see any reason to resign but added that if anyone was interested in his portfolio they could take it.

The Minister's comments followed reports that the available evidence could have been picked up by officials of the GSMB to provide sufficient warning to the people after the tsunami first hit the Ampara district around 8.30 a.m. and thereafter gradually hit the rest of the coastal areas within the next two hours.

Meteorological Department sources said that the first warning about the increasing water levels of the sea had been reported after the waves hit the Trincomalee area (after hitting the Ampara district ), while the information about the earthquake of Indonesia was already available on the internet and was available with the GSMB in Colombo.

The Meteorological Department had issued a warning about the rising water levels, but the warning came after most of the country's coastal areas were hit by the tsunami.

Director, Meteorological Department, T.H.P. Dharmaratna, told The Sunday Times that even though monitoring earthquakes wasn't part of their job, they had done their best to disseminate the warning to the public through the electronic media by providing information that the water levels were rising in the north-eastern coast.

However, when pressed to say what time he had contacted the TV and radio stations, he said he couldn't recall the exact time. Meanwhile, Acting Dean and Head, Department of Physical Science, University of Rajarata, Dr. B.A. Karunaratne says, that the Seismometer based at the University 'Computer Centre', is only a data receiving Centre which functions automatically and transmits the received data to the main operational Centre at the University of Peradeniya, via telephone lines.

"However, as there is no separate telephone line by which these transmissions can be made, the University has to make do with using the same line as the Computer Centre. We have requested a separate telephone line for this data transmission but, have not yet got one," Dr. Karunaratne said.