The Singapore Commentator

Singapore’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong has visited the tsunami-hit areas. So has US secretary of state Colin Powell. Now let’s keep in mind the following report:

Time not on tsunami victims’ side as world launches new aid push
Foreign troops airdropped food and set up clean water supplies Monday as a massive aid effort took shape to help millions left homeless and hungry from Asia’s tsunami disaster, with the death toll creeping towards 150,000...

But aid workers believe many more people are isolated with no fresh water, food or access to medical care. The United Nations and aid groups warned that the threat of a major outbreak of disease such as cholera or diarrhoea could claim tens of thousands more lives.

A contingent of 42 US marines and the British frigate HMS Chatham arrived in Sri Lanka to prepare for military deployment in the island where more than 30,000 people have been confirmed dead. The help could not come soon enough as the first signs of disease began to appear among Sri Lanka’s displaced. Two refugees at a welfare center had chicken pox and were isolated to prevent an outbreak, police said. Flooding in eastern Sri Lanka has also raised fears of water-borne disease, government spokesman Tara de Mel said.

The UN has repeatedly expressed concern that some isolated survivors, particularly in Indonesia, may not receive aid for weeks until roads and bridges that were destroyed in the floods are rebuilt...

No doubt, rescue and aid personnel must have expended valuable time preparing for and briefing the national leaders on the on-going operations. One hopes that the time was well spent and not a distraction from more pressing tasks at hand.