Flood losses estimated at $200-250m

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The financial damage resulting from the two spells of countrywide floods this year is between $200-250 million, Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam said yesterday quoting primary government estimation.

The foreign donors will provide large part of the funds required for bearing the losses, he added.

The finance adviser was talking to the reporters after he met Asian Development Bank (ADB) Director General for South Asia Kunio Senga at the planning ministry.

Senga is visiting Bangladesh after Azizul pointed out the massive damage caused by the floods to ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda during a recent meeting in Manila.

They have completed an inter-ministerial assessment of the flood damage, the finance adviser said, adding that the estimate might be finalised by the government committee concerned by 8th or 9th of this month.

Asked who would pay for the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts, Aziz said that the ADB would provide a substantial amount along with other donors.

The World Bank (WB) has already pledged $75 million loan as flood assistance.

Coordinated by the ADB, other donors to contribute to the post-flood reconstruction efforts are Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The contribution would include both loans and grants.

After meeting Aziz, Senga told reporters that the ADB’s contribution would depend on an ongoing flood damage and needs assessment study.

“Initially, we weren’t expected to come in to help this year……we hoped the problem was not so severe. But the finance adviser in his recent trip to Manila indicated the importance of extending support to the flood victims in the country,” he said.

“So we quickly managed to form a team in full cooperation with other development partners to formulate our assistance,” Senga said adding, “Hopefully we will be able to provide substantive assistance for rehabilitation.”

The WB director general said that he and Aziz also discussed about ongoing regional cooperation on an information superhighway project.

“Essentially this is about information communication technology,” he said, adding, “If Bangladesh and its neighbours get together there will be a multiplier effect of having joint access to information and this will be very helpful for Bangladesh.”

They would finalise the technical scope of the project soon, Senga added.

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