100-tonne aid en route to Maldives

A Bangladesh Navy ship yesterday left for The Maldives, carrying more than 100 tonnes of food, medicines and equipment as assistance to help fight the coronavirus. 

"The ship sailed from Chattogram port at 2:20pm," Sarwar Mahmood, director general of South Asia Desk at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told The Daily Star.

Shah Kamal, senior secretary at Ministry of Disaster Management, said the items include 40 tonnes of rice, 20 tonnes of potatoes, 10 tonnes of lentil, five tonnes of onion, five tonnes of eggs, and five tonnes of vegetables and medicine.

As per directive of PM Sheikh Hasina, Ministry of Foreign Affairs along with Bangladesh High Commission in Male is facilitating dispatch and delivery of the materials to the Indian Ocean archipelago, said a foreign ministry statement.

The Bangladeshi foreign minister is in touch with his Maldivian counterpart and has reiterated Bangladesh's solidarity with Maldives in facing the threat, it said.

The Maldives, which is home to some one lakh Bangladeshis, has been suffering from financial shocks, as tourism, one of its main income earning sectors, is brought to a halt.