The death toll is expected to still increase dramatically, and citizens of many countries of the world, not only those worst hit, have been lost in the disaster.

Namibia responded very belatedly, and then only verbally, to the crisis.

Although the disaster happened on December 26, President Sam Nujoma issued a statement this week, saying he had conveyed condolences to the various heads of state of the countries touched by the cataclysm, including India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

This in turn was followed by a press release from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Wednesday.

In his statement the President conveyed sympathy and condolences and assured the six heads of state that Namibians were "deeply saddened by the massive devastation and loss of life", sending condolences to the people of those countries, the relatives of the deceased and wishing the victims a speedy recovery.

In its turn, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting expressed its pride "in the fact that Namibians were raising funds and offering their services to assist the victims of this horrendous disaster" and adding that "these acts demonstrate that Namibians are humane and indeed a caring society".

We echo the sentiment about commending individual Namibians who are offering contributions and volunteering their services to assist in the disaster through the good offices of the Red Cross Society of Namibia.

However, we cannot help but wonder why the President and/or Government have been both so belated in their responses to the disaster, as well as failing to offer any substantive assistance in this time of crisis.

Countries even less well-off than Namibia, Nepal, for example, have made what contributions they could to aid the people and countries in question in the tsunami aftermath.

In our case, not only were the condolences belated, but we also failed to offer concrete support.

We are quick to ask for aid, but not very speedy when it comes to giving it.

Such support need not necessarily be in the form of huge financial promises, which we are not able to generate, but could also be in the form of contributions and/or services and co-ordinating a support effort across the country.

Suffice it to say that some of the countries worst-struck by the disaster have been some of the incumbent Government's closest allies, and the lack of help offered is even more disappointing when viewed against this background.

We have said it before and we say it again: that while some individual Namibians may have their hearts in the right place, at the start of a new year, the Government has once again disappointed in its lack of human charity and spirit of giving towards people and countries beset by crisis in other parts of the world.

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