A solemn Eid-ul-Azha, the second largest religious festival of Muslims, brings only sadness to Sidr survivors. Signs of festivity almost faded from the ruined south. bdnews24.com's Patuakhali correspo ...
$1.8b needed for post-Sidr rebuilding, govt tells donors
The government Wednesday placed before donors a requirement of $1.8 billion (Tk 12,600 crore) for rehabilitation and reconstruction work in cyclone Sidr-ravaged areas.
Published : 12 Dec 2007, 09:01 AM
Updated : 12 Dec 2007, 09:01 AM
Dhaka, Dec 12 (bdnews24.com) – The government Wednesday placed before donors a requirement of $1.8 billion (Tk 12,600 crore) for rehabilitation and reconstruction work in cyclone Sidr-ravaged areas.
"This is an initial estimate required for short and long-term rehabilitation and reconstruction and for disaster mitigation and adaptation systems," Economic Relations Division secretary Aminul Islam Bhuiyan told reporters after a meeting with the representatives of the local consultative group (LCG) at the National Economic Council auditorium.
This was the first formal government meeting with the LCG after mega cyclone Sidr striking 15 south and southwestern districts of the country.
LCG is a platform of donors working in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh said that it would need $450 million for rehabilitation and reconstruction of roads, bridges and culverts, $1,000 million for building 2,000 shelter homes and about $400 million as budgetary support.
"We've placed before the donors our necessity in the initiative to recover the losses on short and long-term basis," Bhuiyan said.
"They (donors) have wanted to help us individually—one wants to aid in building shelter homes in the coastal belt, another in afforestation or developing infrastructure," he said.
LCG coordinator and World Bank country director, Xian Zhu, told journalists that the donors needed to discuss further how they could help Bangladesh recuperate its losses.
"Bangladesh is an environmentally vulnerable country. It needs long-term help," Zhu said.
On the WB plan, he said that vice president, South Asia Department, Praful C Patel would arrive in Dhaka Thursday morning on a three-day visit to discuss with the government the Bank's plan to help Bangladesh in post-Sidr rehabilitation.
Patel is expected to visit Sidr-hit Barisal and Patuakhali districts Thursday to meet government post-cyclone response taskforces.
According to the latest estimate of the food and disaster management ministry, 3,347 people were killed and 55,282 injured. Crops on over 7 lakh acres of land had also been damaged in the cyclone.
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