Toronto-- Even though one United Nations organization failed the nations of the Indian Ocean when last December's devastating tsunami hit, another UN organization has been mandated to provide a tsunami warning system for them.
UNESCO (The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) says its network of sonor sensors to provide tsunami warnings for 27 countries will be up and running by June, 2006.
according to UNESCO chief Koichiro Matsuura, "If everything goes well the initial warning system for the Indian Ocean should be in place at least in its provisional form by June 2006 and the global warning system should be put in place by 2007."
With India wanting to set up its own warming system combined with the internal politics of nations who would be the recipients of the warning system and the transnational power-jockeying taking place, it's everything going well, UN style.
UNESCO's $30-million network of sonor sensors would instantly transmit data from the Indian Ocean floor to tsunami experts in some 27 countries.
Like so many things UN, it sounds good in theory but not guaranteed to work in practice.
although it is little known, it was another UN organization that failed the nations of the Indian Ocean on Dec. 26, 2004. The system that failed the people of Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and other countries hit by the cataclysmic earthquake and tsunami was the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CNTBTO).
CNTBTO is responsible for sounding the alarm when there's an earthquake or tsunami on the way.
"Early on Sunday morning, powerful computers in a Vienna office building received seismic data on the earthquake that spawned the devastating tsunamis across South asia–information that might have saved lives in the hours between the quake and the waves hitting the coast of Sri Lanka, India and several other countries." (International Herald Tribune).
But the life-saving data streaming into CNTBO headquarters was for naught, the data showed up on computer screens, but the 300-plus staff who were supposed to be monitoring them were--down to the last one--on vacation until January 4.
CNTBO headquarters has become the kind of place where senior staff only comes to the office to scan their emails. Since 1996, the organization has failed its main mission of getting other countries, such as Iran to sign the UN's nuclear test-ban treaty. It's another UN satellite on a failed mission that still racks up mega costs.
With the lion's share of the public limelight on the ongoing UN oil-for-food scandal, there was no public outrage over CNTBTO's failure to warn the people of Indian Ocean nations about the imminent tsunami. CNTBTO had long been off radar screen.
Meanwhile, australia and the Commonwealth are pushing for the creation of an Indian Ocean tsunami warning system.
When it comes to warning when the next tsunami will hit, let's hope UNESCO is more awake at the switch than CNTBTO was.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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