A month ago, a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, a small town in Ohio, United States, releasing gallons of toxic gases.

But even a month later, the US government is far from solving the problems that have cropped up. While some local residents are complaining of a sore throat and are coughing blood, almost 44,000 aquatic animals have died there, but the US Environmental Protection Agency insists the water and air there are "safe" and "normal".

Besides, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg showed up in leather dress boots instead of protective work boots while surveying the train derailment, and there is no plan for US President Joe Biden to visit the site. Former US president Donald Trump was there though, doling out bottled water belonging to his own company, Trump Ice Natural Spring Water, which his opponents claimed had been discontinued since 2010.They even circulated photographs showing the water was yellow in color, but AP Photos ran a fact check to say the water was clear and the photograph had been altered.

In a nutshell, while the Republicans were busy blaming those in power, those in power were busy fighting back, but nobody had a minute to spare for the victims.

All this points to the failure of governance in the US. Politicians can put on a brilliant performance asking for votes, while doing little to solve the problems of residents.

On March 1, the US Department of Justice was trying to compel a controversial manufacturing plant in Louisiana to curb its emissions. The authorities have finally woken up nearly 36 years after a local stretch of the Mississippi River was nicknamed Cancer Alley in 1987.Who knows how many more such problems exist in the US and how much longer it will take to address them. After all, the country seems more interested in covering up problems rather than solving them.