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WSWS : Correspondence

Readers commend coverage of PNG tidal wave disaster

24 July 1998

To the WSWS Editor:

I totally agree with your comments, it is very hypocritical of Australia. Australia should do more. It was a problem with the Australian Mining Company that started the Bougainville war.

I

Vanuatu

Your article on the tidal wave that hit PNG is the only one I have read that looks at the reasons, the economic reasons behind the huge death toll. The rest of the media is too busy showing us horrific pictures, and they are horrific pictures of the destruction of property and human life. But no one seriously looks at the big picture. Why are these people so exposed to so many disasters at the moment? Where has all the natural wealth of this country gone? What has it been spent on and who has spent it?

No, the media isn't interested in this and yet every year there are disasters like this and the only thing asked of the world is that it be horrified by them. But, thankfully, your article asks more of the reader than that.

T

Sydney, Australia

I, a Papua New Guinean, really appreciate the last two paragraph of your writing and I think countries such as Australia and New Zealand should feel responsible for forcing the PNG government to cut back on its social spending. And they should help in the relief effort.

SW

Papua New Guinea

See Also:
Up to 6,000 killed by PNG tidal wave
[22 July 1998]