Tsunami alert on track

The violent earthquake off the coast of the Indonesia island of Sumatra late on Monday night created a panic in Thailand and other countries around the Indian ocean rim. It was a grim reminder that tsunami, one of the world’s most devastating natural desasters, could strike at any time.
The successful early warning system and subsequent evacuation were a good exercise, allowing us to avaluate our preparedness to respond to disasters.
Above all, the costly lessons learned on Des, 26 should convince the government that managing our country’s preparedness to deal with disaster should be left to professionals. Professionals who are free to exercise their judgement without fear of favour, or intervention from politicians.