Subtropical Storm OLGA was Late Season Tropical Depression 94

[Lambada]

Just a couple of brief updates: very interesting argument here that decision was taken deliberately so that President could subsequently boost his flagging approval ratings by appearing as the 'saviour' with house building programmes etc. I don't go along with this personally (think it is much more to do with panicking & incompetence) but.............very interesting that it has been published. Freedom of the press goes up in my view.
Torres de la Paz estima intracendente nombramiento comisión investiga manejo presa

And secondly, the bereaved families have submitted their plaint against INDRHI and the Dam Management Committee to the Attorney General
El Nacional, la voz de todos

[Hillbilly]

Like I posted earlier, commissions are for filing this crap away so the people can forget about it. (Luis Arthur's column in yesterday's El Caribe was a gem..
Last night over a wonderful dinner at ZOL with "drtampa" and his wife, we juggled this issue around and there is no earthly way that criminal charges should be avoided in this case.
Tejada cited Art 319 of the Penal Code.

Oh that we had the monetary resources to bring a class action suit against these bast@rds!! 45 or 85 counts of involuntary homicide would open some eyes....

As for this being a political move in order to garner votes?? Yeah, you know what my campaign would say?

Vote for Leonel, the guy that brought you the Yaque River to your house! Oh, you don't have a house anymore?? Well then, vote for me!!

HB

[Chip]

When I first heard of the tragedy I immediately started wondering if these guys have any idea of what they are doing and if they even have competent engineers who understand hydrology enough to understand the effects of dumping so much water into such a relatively small river such as the Yaque. After reading the reports I understand they did have an estimate of the flood stage (+66 feet) that could be reached but then it became apparent that they couldn't understand the ramifications of having the water level of the Tavares reservoir so high with a tropical depression in such close proximity. Furthermore, it too became apparent that the engineers/officials here don't or can't accurately interpret rain guages, because what they thought they "saw" in terms of rainfall apparently was a whole lot less - ie they kept on throwing around 100mm(3") of rain like it was something big, when in fact this is a relatively minor storm event. 8" and up is something to be concerned about, roughly a 25 year storm event. Then there is the issue of the weak effort to warn people in the affected areas rapidly enough.

The end result is that I even feel less confident about the governments ability to handle relatively easy responsibilities and I'm left with an utter astonishment at their stupidity. When will they here realize the system is broken and you can't/shouldn't put some local idiot into office run any type of operations of scale just because he was well placed in the party? I would even be surprised to find out f these numnuts can write their own name. What is equally astonishing is that the opposing parties either don't appear to be interested in taking this further. I used to think bipartisan politics was bad for a country but what happens here in the DR takes the cake. One of these days don't be surprised to find out that some ugly Spanish speaking gringo has a radio/tv program that will embarass these inept officials.

[Lambada]

Originally Posted by Chip

When I first heard of the tragedy I immediately started wondering if these guys have any idea of what they are doing and if they even have competent engineers who understand hydrology enough to understand the effects of dumping so much water into such a relatively small river such as the Yaque.

I think, in all fairness, there are plenty of highly competent engineers here in the DR (I know you weren't saying there aren't, Chip). They just don't happen to be political party hacks or appointees - probably too busy running their own businesses or actually working for someone else. So I see this as a political problem rather than a knowledge problem i.e. how to get competent professionals into Government jobs where they are needed. Maybe this takes us back to the arguments for a civil service, professionally staffed, which stays in place regardless of changes of Government?

Originally Posted by Hillbilly

there is no earthly way that criminal charges should be avoided in this case. Tejada cited Art 319 of the Penal Code.

Oh that we had the monetary resources to bring a class action suit against these bast@rds!! 45 or 85 counts of involuntary homicide would open some eyes....HB

How about this as the focus of the next DR1 fundraiser?

And HB can you put the link up to the Luis Arthur piece please, if it was in the online version?

[Hillbilly]

Sorry, I could not find it at ElCaribeCDN.com....

I will do a translation and put it up....

He echoes my sentiments as to the worth of a commission....

HB

[A.Hidalgo]

Found it for our reading pleasure....You are right Hillbilly, excellent article indeed.

Sin temor ni favor

La única forma de institucionalizar un país es permitir y promover el imperio de la ley.

En este caso penoso, en que los muertos y desaparecidos pasan del centenar y las pérdidas materiales son multimillonarias, debido a un error de operación y donde hay que usar el dinero de muchas otras necesidades, hay que castigar ejemplarmente a todos los responsables.

http://www.elcaribecdn.com/articulo_...FFDE&Seccion=3

[A.Hidalgo]

I also found Luis Arthur's web page were the above article is from. There is also a graph that accompanies the article that is not found in the El Caribe article.



Luis H. Arthur S.

[Hillbilly]

Okay, thaks guys (Hildalgo especially.

Here is a quick and free translation: Bear with me..

The precipitations registered by hurricane DAvid, according to CDE documents of 29 Sept (sic. it was 29 August!!)1979 indicate.
1) In six hours 150.9 mm -(+/- 6")
2) In 12 hours: 233.1 mm--(+/- 9 1/4")
3) in 24 hours: 295.2 mm--(+/- 11 1/2")

This rainfall, compared to those used in the design of the dam which is 818 mm, only reached 36.1% of design limit.
The graph (see above) shows this reality.
The TS Noel and Olga, that destroyed the historic memory of how to operate dams during hurricane season, or when there is a storm with a lot of rain predicted, did not have comparable flows (to David) and shows the irresponsibility of governments that do not have sufficient foresight to understand that everything is not politics, re-election, deals, and that they have to place technicians who are capable, who carry out the decisions that the technical advisers give them. When a government puts politicians in important jobs, it assumes, together with them, a responsibility for their mistakes, that the law specifies and punishes.
The only way to institutionalize the a country is to permit and promote the rule of law.

In the pitiful case (of TS Olga), in which there were dead and missing that pass one hundred and multi-million (pesos in) material losses, due to a mistake in the operation (of the dam) and where the money (for relief and recovery) will come from other needy areas, there must be exemplary punishments for all of those responsible. To create another commission, is a prelude to forgetting, and to try and get time to lessen and even have so many accept their avoidable troubles.
A government is there to govern. If any of its officials commits a mistake, that person must be fired and placed in the justice system, just like they do to the unfortunate cops that earn 100 or 200 times less than one of these (people that handled the dam issues) officials that not only blew it but now want to cover up their mistakes with a lot of words, as if their deeds can be reversed through demagoguery. An example must be made (of these people) in order to avoid a repetition.
We can no longer continue without institutionalizing the country.


NOTE: Parenthesis () are mine.

HB

[Lambada]

Thank you HB & Alfredo. That blog of Luis Arthur's is a real find - he appears to be adding a piece daily on the subject AND from the standpoint of one who is knowledgeable. See the entry for today Saturday 22nd. Ignorancia y Desidia II
Luis H. Arthur S.

[Hillbilly]

those two posts are a terrible condemnation of this or any government.

I hope the people at can read Spanish will take the time to read them...

HB