CA calls for assistance from donors

Dhaka, Dec 03 (bdprem.com)—Chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed Monday linked natural calamities such as cyclone and flooding to climate change and sought assistance from the international community to rebuild a battered Bangladesh. He said Bangladesh needed $1 billion in total assistance to recoup the losses made by the Nov 15 cyclone Sidr that killed more than 3,000 people and left eight million homeless in 15 coastal districts. "We need to look at these catastrophes in the light of global phenomenon of climate change," he said. Your Ad Here "An internationally-created problems like climate change demands an internationally-supported, sustainable solution for those worst affected, as in Bangladesh," Fakhruddin said in his address to donor representatives and diplomats at a meeting at the Chief Adviser's Office. Of the $1 billion, he said, $300 million was necessary for reconstruction of infrastructure such as roads and bridges while $250 million was required for rebuilding a network of coastal embankments in the Sidr-hit districts. The chief adviser said Bangladesh needed $200 million to construct 2,000 new cyclone shelters, $150 million for restoration of the Sundarbans and $100 million to rebuild schools destroyed by the Sidr. "My government urges the international community to come forward with technical and financial assistance to realise our goal of a safe and secure coastal belt," Fakhruddin said. The chief adviser said a comprehensive report on the 1991 cyclone, which killed 140,000 people, recommended repairing old cyclone shelters and building 2,000 new shelters. "The government has decided to implement these recommendations and undertake a major programme of building new shelters and repairing existing ones," he said. Emphasising the need for constructing a system of dams and water drainage systems as in the Netherlands, Fakhruddin said: "Bangladesh, too, needs dykes, coastal embankments and polders to protect the coastal area from cyclone and floods."