Dhaka places $1.0b fund requirements to donors
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
Bangladesh Monday placed before the international community a rough estimate of fund requirements amounting to one billion US dollars for rebuilding the cyclone-devastated infrastructures and livelihoods, reports UNB.
Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed presented the estimate in a meeting with the Ambassadors and High Commissioners of different countries and representatives from donor agencies at the CA's office, as the country is now engrossed in rebuilding the cyclone-hit coastal localities.
Envoys of the USA, the UK, Japan, Italy, Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Iran, Malaysia, Nepal, Bhutan, Indonesia, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Egypt, South Korea, Kuwait and Qatar and representatives of development partners and UN organisations, including the European Commission, World Bank, ADB, FAO, UNDP, WFP and UNICEF were present at the meeting.
The estimates include 250 million US dollars for rebuilding a network of coastal embankments, 150 million dollars for forestation programme, 200 million dollars for constructing 2,000 new cyclone shelters, 100 million dollars for rebuilding schools and 300 million dollars for construction and reconstruction of roads and bridges.
The CA also urged the international community to come forward with technical and financial assistance to realise the country's goal of a safe and secure coastal belt.
The severe cyclone Sidr left a trail of devastations in the southwestern Bangladesh on November 15 claiming over 3,200 lives. Many others of the region are still missing.
The natural calamity also destroyed country's forest resources, particularly the UNESCO-recognised world heritage site Sundarbans, agriculture and fisheries sectors.
Dr Fakhruddin said, the nation can no longer afford to merely respond to a crisis, count on relief and rehabilitation, and wait for the next blow to come.
"We must be ambitious in our approach and firm in our resolve in thinking of a large-scale, long-term solution to contain the fury of the nature on a sustainable basis. We need to commit ourselves to preventing disaster, not just react to them. An internationally-created problem like climate change demands an internationally-supported suitable solution for the worst affected countries like Bangladesh," he told the meeting.
Bangladesh's suggestions, incidentally, coincides with an international conference that just began in Indonesia's Bali, to work out an inter-governmental plane of action to tackle a growing incidence of natural disasters in countries across the globe for climate change under the effects of heavy greenhouse gas emissions in the developed countries.
Thanking the CA for arranging the meeting, the diplomats, development partners and representatives of the UN organisations supported his statement on the urgency of permanent solutions, and also assured support to that end.
Foreign Affairs Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, Food and Disaster Management Adviser Tapan Chowdhury, Cabinet Secretary, other secretaries concerned, secretary to the CA's office and CA's press secretary were also present on the occasion.
Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed presented the estimate in a meeting with the Ambassadors and High Commissioners of different countries and representatives from donor agencies at the CA's office, as the country is now engrossed in rebuilding the cyclone-hit coastal localities.
Envoys of the USA, the UK, Japan, Italy, Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Iran, Malaysia, Nepal, Bhutan, Indonesia, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Egypt, South Korea, Kuwait and Qatar and representatives of development partners and UN organisations, including the European Commission, World Bank, ADB, FAO, UNDP, WFP and UNICEF were present at the meeting.
The estimates include 250 million US dollars for rebuilding a network of coastal embankments, 150 million dollars for forestation programme, 200 million dollars for constructing 2,000 new cyclone shelters, 100 million dollars for rebuilding schools and 300 million dollars for construction and reconstruction of roads and bridges.
The CA also urged the international community to come forward with technical and financial assistance to realise the country's goal of a safe and secure coastal belt.
The severe cyclone Sidr left a trail of devastations in the southwestern Bangladesh on November 15 claiming over 3,200 lives. Many others of the region are still missing.
The natural calamity also destroyed country's forest resources, particularly the UNESCO-recognised world heritage site Sundarbans, agriculture and fisheries sectors.
Dr Fakhruddin said, the nation can no longer afford to merely respond to a crisis, count on relief and rehabilitation, and wait for the next blow to come.
"We must be ambitious in our approach and firm in our resolve in thinking of a large-scale, long-term solution to contain the fury of the nature on a sustainable basis. We need to commit ourselves to preventing disaster, not just react to them. An internationally-created problem like climate change demands an internationally-supported suitable solution for the worst affected countries like Bangladesh," he told the meeting.
Bangladesh's suggestions, incidentally, coincides with an international conference that just began in Indonesia's Bali, to work out an inter-governmental plane of action to tackle a growing incidence of natural disasters in countries across the globe for climate change under the effects of heavy greenhouse gas emissions in the developed countries.
Thanking the CA for arranging the meeting, the diplomats, development partners and representatives of the UN organisations supported his statement on the urgency of permanent solutions, and also assured support to that end.
Foreign Affairs Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, Food and Disaster Management Adviser Tapan Chowdhury, Cabinet Secretary, other secretaries concerned, secretary to the CA's office and CA's press secretary were also present on the occasion.