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Scuffles broke out when some family members tried to cross a bridge to the mainland, reportedly to march on the Presidential Blue House in Seoul, some 420km (260 miles) to the north. "Bring me the body so that I can see the face and hug my child," shouted one woman. Lee Woon-geun, father of missing passenger Lee Jung-in, 17, said: "We want an answer from the person in charge about why orders are not going through and nothing is being done. They are clearly lying and kicking the responsibility to others." Relatives are anxious for the bodies to be retrieved before they decompose.

My perception was that it is about fulfilling or complying in obeying an order. But when I checked it in dictionary (link below) I noticed it is about approving and being accepted. I am confused. http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/go-through

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"We want an answer from the person in charge about why orders are not going through and nothing is being done."

Literally this means that somebody in charge is giving orders, the orders are being transmitted, but there is a problem with the transmission. I think they are using this phrase as a nice way to say...

"We want an answer from the person in charge about why their orders are being ignored or not being well-communicated to their subordinates and why nothing is being done."

They're basically saying that this situation is being badly managed.

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    In this context, I think "go through" gets parsed as two words, not a single unit, which is why the O.P. was having trouble finding a matching definition in Macmillan to fit this context. In other words, I'd parse it this way: "We want an answer about (why the orders) (are not going) (through [to subordinates])." So, in this context, "going through" = "getting to the intended recipients". See Meaning #7 under through; that's a similar usage.
    – J.R. ♦
    Commented Apr 20, 2014 at 13:58

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