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Download PDF Eight months into losing their homes to Cyclone Sidr, nearly 23,000 families may not see their houses rebuilt before this winter, as the countries that promised assistance in the reconstruction are yet to complete their formalities.
Saudi Arabia promised to construct 21,200 houses in Bagerhat, Borguna and Patuakhali — the three districts affected heavily by the cyclone, while India promised 1,600 houses in 11 villages in Bagerhat, said officials at Ministry of Food and Disaster Management.
Saudi Arabia has already completed the financing formalities for the assistance and India is still in the middle of the process, added the officials.
It is taking too long for the Saudi assistance to reach Bangladesh as “the authorities of Saudi Arabia want to purchase construction materials from abroad by themselves and hand those over to the Bangladesh authorities,” a senior food ministry official told The Daily Star yesterday.
This method is time-consuming, he pointed out saying, “Had the country given us the money, by this time we would have bought the materials from local markets and started construction work.”
The official also mentioned that construction materials for 10,000 houses to be built in Borguna, Patuakhali and Pirojpur in the first phase under the Saudi assistance programme are already on the way and those are expected to reach Bangladesh some time next month.
Out of the $100-million assistance promised by the government of Saudi Arabia for the Sidr survivors, $30.31 million would be spent on construction of new houses for 21,000 families.
According to the data available at the food and disaster management ministry, the major portion of the fund, $67.50 million, is allotted for providing food grains to the victims. The remainder of the fund is for purchasing motor vehicles and medicines and warm clothes for the victims.
Under the first phase of the Saudi assistance programme, 4,000 houses would be built in the most devastated upazila of Sharankhola in Bagerhat, 2,000 in Borguna, 1,200 in Bhandaria of Pirojpur, 1,540 in Kalapara, 1,200 in Mirzaganj and 51 in Galachipa of Patuakhali.
The officials could not say when the second phase of the programme would start. However, they presumed that it might not be possible this year.
The Indian assistance, initially set at 10 crore rupees, was later revised and raised to 35 crore rupees for the construction of 1,600 houses in 11 villages in Sharankhola and Morelganj upazilas, the officials said.
An official told The Daily Star, “The money is yet to be sanctioned by the Indian government.”
Thousands of families without any roof over their heads in the disaster areas are now going through immense sufferings in the middle of monsoon, he added.
Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, the Indian high commissioner to Dhaka, told journalists at the foreign ministry last week that the assistance would be processed as soon as the Indian government approves the fund. The work is in its final stage, and currently “the funding requirements are being looked into,” he added.
Another senior official at the food and disaster management ministry said, “We are also talking to them [Indian officials] over telephone to expedite the process, but things seem to be going real slow.”
AMM Shawkat Ali, the adviser for the ministry, yesterday told The Daily Star that he was hopeful that the assistance would reach the cyclone survivors soon and they would be relieved of their miseries. “The process itself is lengthy. This type of matters usually take time,” he observed.
The Indian assistance programme intends to build 300 houses at Rajour village, 100 houses at Bulbunia, 100 at East Khonkapara, 200 at Taltola and 100 houses at North Tafalkandi village in Sharankhola under Bagerhat district.
Furthermore, 140 houses would be built at Laxmikhali village, 130 houses at Char Hoglabunia, 120 at South Mutluri, 140 at Bhaijor, 140 at Sonyashi and 120 at Boraikhali village in the same upazila.
Indian assistance usually takes too long to process and they are still sending rice to Bangladesh under their food assistance programme for the 2004 floods in Bangladesh, said the ministry officials.
Japan also promised financial assistance for constructing 1,000 small shelters in 48 upazilas of the coastal districts. Each shelter would have the capacity of accommodating 10 people.
According to official data, 5, 63,877 houses were completely destroyed while 9,55,065 were destroyed partially on November 15 last year when the Cyclone Sidr wreaked havoc in 12 coastal districts of the country, claiming 3,347 lives and injuring 55,282 others. Another 871 are still missing.
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