Another blow for Indonesia

Another blow for Indonesia

For those living in Indonesia's northwestern regions it must
have felt like a recurring nightmare. While the earthquake that
struck in the early hours has apparently caused only a fraction
of the devastation of the Boxing Day quake and tsunamis that cost
almost 300,000 lives, that is little consolation for those
directly affected.

We should not allow the scale of the Boxing Day tragedy to
inure us to a new disaster that, on early accounts, has cost at
least several hundred lives, and possibly rendered thousands more
homeless on the island of Nias, off the north Sumatran coast.

That is why the best thing Western countries can do to prevent
another devastation such as on Boxing Day is to encourage
economic integration with developing countries -- which means an
end to trade barriers -- and to assist them in eradicating the
corruption and cronyism that holds many of them back. We will
never be able to do anything about the seething and destructive
unpredictability of the earth on which we live.

But we can create societies whose cities, buildings and
institutions are better equipped to withstand nature's assault.
-- The Australian, Sydney