Disaster Preparedness Act - Printable Version

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Disaster Preparedness Act - Bears Armed - 03-04-2010

Now at vote in the WA's General Assembly, we have the following proposal -

Quote: Disaster Preparedness Act
A resolution to improve world security by boosting police and military budgets.

Category: International Security
Strength: Mild
Proposed by: Topid


Description: The General Assembly,

Defining ?disaster? as an event that causes massive loss of life or property damage,

Noting the vast amounts of wealth spent annually by member states, NGOs, and the World Assembly itself in providing humanitarian aid after disasters,

Recognizing that some of the loss of life and damage to property could be avoided if a nation had some warning a disaster was pending,

Seeking to prevent the loss of as many lives or the damage of as much property as possible when disasters occur,

Hereby:

I. Establishes the Global Organization for Public Safety (GOPS) which shall be tasked with monitoring public hazards,
(a) Defines ?public hazard? as a condition, event, or situation that could become a disaster or makes a disaster possible or likely to occur,
(b) The GOPS shall operate:
(1) Meteorological centers to monitor the weather,
(2) Seismological centers to monitor risks such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic activity,

II. Authorizes the GOPS to inspect structures such as dams, levees, and high-rise buildings in urban areas, which could cause disasters if the structure was to fail,
(a) All the nations to be effected shall be alerted if there is a likely failure of the structure,

III. Mandates GOPS shall issue warnings to national governments when they suspect a disaster is pending, and shall also notify the various NGOs, WA Organizations, and National Governments which frequently send humanitarian aid, in the hopes the aid will arrive sooner if advanced notice is given;

IV. Declares member states maintain the right to operate their own disaster alert system,
(a) Such an organization must share all information about possible disasters with the GOPS,

V. Mandates member states to respond to alerts in a manner that will protect the lives of as many civilians as possible,
(a) If the GOPS finds a member state to have ignored an alert, or responded insubstantially to an alert, the member state shall be mandated to pay the victims of the disaster an amount determined by the GOPS.[/quote]


Okay, so how do the region's WA nations want your Delegate to vote?
Personally, while approving of the general principles involved, I'm unhappy about the extent to which this duplicates services that many nations will presumably be providing by themselves anyway... and, from an IC viewpoint, the additional expense that this will involve...

Please post below to say whether you've voted. People with WA nations in this region, only, please.

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Disaster Preparedness Act - Bears Armed - 03-04-2010

Bears Armed Mission, acting on instructions from the government of Bears Armed, has voted in this poll.

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Disaster Preparedness Act - Enn - 03-05-2010

For, but with reservations. The grammaticality of it annoys me (particularly the 'nations effected'), and I'm not sure I entirely like the duplication, as you said.
Could easily have been an abstention.

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Disaster Preparedness Act - Hindopia - 03-05-2010

This is a copy of my argument against the proposal. Note that it's IC.

I agree wholeheartedly with the ambassador from Glen Rhodes. This proposal will undoubtedly impose an unfair burden on countries with less than reputable economies. I vehemently oppose this clause:
Quote: V. Mandates member states to respond to alerts in a manner that will protect the lives of as many civilians as possible,
(a) If the GOPS finds a member state to have ignored an alert, or responded insubstantially to an alert, the member state shall be mandated to pay the victims of the disaster an amount determined by the GOPS.[/quote]
I believe that the power given to the GOPS by this clause is far to excessive. It has been a long held law that if a resident in my home country believes that he/she is entitled to any sort of compensation for negligence against them, then it would be a matter for the civil courts of Hindopia to decide on the validity of those accusations, not some external organisation not bound by Hindopian law. I am not crying the oft heard "national sovereignty" argument, but there has to be a limit on the reach of the World Assembly.

This clause is also ambiguous as to what national government can be sued. If a tsunami strikes the shores of some far distant country and a disaster warning center in Hindopia has advance warning but does not notify the government of the country in danger, is Hindopia liable for the damage and loss of life? I, as a representative of the Hindopian Government, register my vote "Against" this proposal.

-Vargas Harrowsing MC, WA Representative for Hindopia

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