Undeterred by deadly attack, JICA promises to continue development work in Bangladesh

Unfazed by the deadly Dhaka terror attack in which seven of its consultants were killed, the Japan government has promised to continue supporting development projects in Bangladesh through its aid agency, JICA.

Another Japanese sustained injury in the Friday night’s attack at a Gulshan cafe.

JICA President Shinichi Kitaoka in a statement posted on its website on Wednesday said all of them worked for JICA.

“It is a matter of great sorrow to us that these precious comrades were killed or injured.”

“Sadly, these people, who worked hard for the development of Bangladesh, became caught up in this incident.”

“It is impossible to suppress our anger at the criminals who carried out this act of terrorism,” Kitaoka said.

Japan's top foreign funding agency, according to him, would “continue giving top priority to the safety of JICA-related personnel”.

And this would be ensured after “thoroughly assessing the situation on the ground in the places where we do our work”, he added.

“We also remain firmly committed to contributing to the development of Bangladesh,” Kitaoka said.

The JICA president’s statement came following speculations that JICA might change the way it works in Dhaka after the attack in which 17 foreigners including those Japanese were killed.

Japan is one of the largest bilateral donors in Bangladesh with its citizens working even in remote parts of the country as volunteers.

Recently, it signed the biggest-ever soft loan package for six mega projects which include power, road communications and disaster management.

The chief of the government aid unit termed the grisly attack “extremely regrettable” and said the slain and injured Japanese were taking part in a preparatory survey related to an infrastructure project to improve the urban transit situation in Dhaka, where traffic is rapidly increasing.

Kitaoka offered condolences for the victims and prayed for the earliest recovery of the injured.

He said on behalf of JICA, “I would like to offer as much support as possible to all the family members."

“The people who were killed and injured not only participated in survey work in Bangladesh, together with JICA they also contributed to the growth of developing countries and were expected to continue doing so.”

Kitaoka also said after a Japanese man was killed in northwest Bangladesh last October “we elevated our safety measures and have been alerting all JICA-related personnel to the danger”.

“And JICA was just recently warning them again to be extra cautious, particularly during and just after Ramadan. It is quite regrettable that this result came about despite those efforts,” he said.