South African weather forecasters who predict severe storms or gales without permission from the authorities could be punished by up to ten years imprisonment or a hefty fine under new legislation.
The bill, officials say, is aimed at "protecting the general public against the distribution of inaccurate or hoax warnings or weather predictions that could cause public panic and lead to evacuations and/or the unwarranted waste of resources — money, people and technology".It would mean that independent forecasters wanting to issue a severe weather warning would first need to get written permission from the state-run South African Weather Service.
Members of the public who ring in to radio stations or newspapers to warn of an impending storm without asking SAWS first could also find themselves criminalised under the bill.
First-time offenders face a penalty of up to five years imprisonment or a fine of five million rand (£400,000), while repeat offenders could be jailed for up to ten years or be made to pay a ten million rand (£800,000) fine
For more, see South African Weather Forecasters Who Get It Wrong Face Imprisonment by , January 14, 2012 at The Telegraph.
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