Select Committee recommendations to Speaker before end of May

BY L. B. Wijayasiri in Kandy

Chairman of the special Parliamentary Select Committee appointed to inquire into and make suitable recommendations on the minimising of the destruction that could be caused to the people by natural disasters Mahinda Samarasinghe, MP, said that recommendations of the Committee would be presented to the Speaker before the end of May, 2005.

He added that the attention of the Committee had been drawn to the need of setting up of a National Centre for collecting information and data on possible natural disasters, at the earliest, with a view to make the people aware of such disasters in time.

Committee Chairman Samarasinghe revealed this when the members of the Select Committee spent the whole day on March 31 in Kandy district participating in field study tours.

This was the first time that members of a Parliamentary Select Committee visited areas outside Colombo and collected information on the relevant subject it was said.

The committee members who visited the University of Peradeniya and discussed with the relevant academics at the Geology Department as to why the machinery and equipment available there failed to inform the public about the recent tsunami disaster before the damage was caused. They had a special discussion with the scientists there and also inspected the place where the Richter scale is installed.

Geologists pointed out that there was no defect on the instrument, but the necessary data could not be produced by it due to a defect in the computer software attached to it.

The committee drew the special attention to that situation and Chairman Samarasinghe said that the government would be requested to enter into an agreement with Japanese Solidarity Foundation for maintaining the relevant instruments.

He also said that it was revealed during their study tour that there had been no programme of exchanging the data collected at the Geology Department of University of Peradeniya with the data produced at the Pallekele Centre.

He stressed the vital need of maintaining inter-relations between those two institutions and immediate steps should be taken to establish those relations.

The Committee also visited Puliyadda area in Hewaheta electorate where imminent danger of larger landslides and they exchanged views with the villagers, at a meeting had with them at Weldambala Vidyalaya. MP Samarasinghe told those people that the views expressed by the people will be considered by the Committee and make suitable recommendations.

The Committee also hopes to recommend to include into the school curriculum a subject covering all aspects inclusive of identification of natural disasters and precautions that could be taken to minimise the damage so that the schoolchildren and parents could be made aware on those disasters.

It also would recommend that all government institutions in respective districts should be made available a report prepared with an understanding on natural disasters that could take place in those districts, so that precautionary measures could be taken immediately in the event of such disasters.

In making their recommendations, steps taken by international community to handle such disastrous situations and precautions taken to minimise the damage also could be taken into consideration.

Members of the Committee MPs Ven. Udawatte Nanda Thera, John Amaratunga, Rauf Hakeem, Mahinda Wijesekara, Nadaraja Raviraj, academic staff of the Geology Department of the University, District Secretary A. M. L. B. Polgolla, were among those present.