Weather forecasters threatened with jail

[Alkemac]

WTF ???

"...Amendments to the SA Weather Service Bill that threaten independent forecasters with fines and imprisonment for issuing severe weather warnings are draconian, the Democratic Alliance said on Thursday.

“[They are] an attempt... to establish and protect an unfair monopoly on services offered by the Weather Service, some of which are commercial services,” said DA environmental spokesman Gareth Morgan.

“The bill, if passed in its current form, will have various undesirable consequences, and will make South Africans less safe,” he said.

The bill would make it illegal for someone to issue warnings about severe weather or air pollution without written permission from the national weather service.

It would also make it an offence to supply false or misleading information about the weather service, or intentionally or negligently commit an act which negatively affects the organisation.

An aim of the bill was to limit the damage caused by incorrect forecasts about dangerous weather.

First offenders could face up to five years in prison or a R5 million fine while subsequent offenders faced a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment or a R10m fine.

The bill would limit the liability of the weather service in any damage, loss or injury caused by its actions under the act.

A new clause would also allow a court to compensate the weather service for any monetary advantage the accused would have gained from a relevant offence.

“Perhaps the Weather Service sees this as a potential new income stream for itself,” Morgan said.

He said it was concerning that the bill failed to define a “severe weather event”.

It was more concerning that a citizen with vital information about a tornado, for example, would face “clumsy bureaucracy” when applying for written permission to broadcast a warning, he said.

“There is no reason to believe that the Weather Service, with its limited ability to measure and observe weather changes all around South Africa in real time, can respond quickly to all severe weather events, offering affected people sufficient warning.”

Morgan called for the offences clause to be removed.

Interested parties could submit written comment on the bill before the end of Thursday..."

[John Young]

Add to this stupidity that SAWS is the most inaccurate forecast available in RSA.

Vaclav Hornik, who runs the WindGuru weather service website based in the Czech Republic, was shocked at the development.

“I do not know what the practices are in SA (but) my personal opinion is that this is unbelievable… it’s like it was here during the communist regime. Freedom of speech punished? It’s a nightmare.”

Regards
John

[WhiteEagle]

AGREE - WTF! Just visited Kobus Botha's site to have a look at the weather. Are these sites then illegal? How low can they go?

[Bundy]

These flippen arseholes make me so damn cross....(I refuse to support their "Weather Extortion Program")

If I looked out my bedroom window in PTA and made a guess as to what the weather is like in Cape Town, I'd be more accurate than the "climatologists" working at SAWS

Pure money making scheme....just like everything else in SA

[Jean Crous]

As a ( Deceased)mate of mine used to say, "Wat weet n donkie van chocolates af ??"

[topflight]

WTF??!!? So..if I ask another pilot in the air of how the weather is up there...they can sue his ass for giving me an answer??

Watch this space....this is just a bluff for something else they want to do.

[Tumbleweed]

I can just see the new 'service provider' to the weather office licking his lips in glee as he thinks he's going to benefit from pimping the privateers and get re-imbursed for the SAWS kick-backs.