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Flood-hit people to get food aid for 8 months

Says food minister

28 April 2010, 18:00 PM

METROPOLITAN

Staff Correspondent

The government is going to give food aid to people affected by recent flash floods in haor areas of Netrakona, Sunamganj and Kishoreganj from May through vulnerable group feeding (VGF) cards. “We'll distribute the food aid among the affected for the next eight to nine months,” Food and Disaster Management Minister Abdur Razzaque told reporters after inaugurating a workshop in the city yesterday. Disaster Management and Relief Division under the ministry organised the workshop on Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP) Phase-II at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel. The government is fully prepared for any kind of disasters and it will keep Tk 1,00 crore to face any such incidents, he said adding that they have also 5 to 6 lakh tonnes of food stock to distribute through open market sale (OMS). Razzaque said they have been taking measures to solve problems in cyclone Aila-affected areas. “We'll be able to tell the exact time by the next 20 days when the problems of all the affected areas will be solved though only 10 to 12 unions out of 16 in two districts still remain under the sufferings,” he said. Describing the drinking water crisis as the basic problem of the area, the minister said they drink water from ponds and the government is taking steps to reduce the problem on a long-term basis. He said they have received Tk 1,13 crore from Japan to purchase equipment for purifying water. About the CDMP Phase-II, the minister in his speech in the inaugural session said CDMP Phase-I from 2004 to 2009 has developed essentially a pilot process and it has worked on collaborative partnership, policy reform, mainstreaming, capacity building, community empowerment, urban risk, climate change, emergency response and information management and met many of its stated targets. He said CDMP Phase-II builds on CDMP on that aim to institutionalise the adoption of risk reduction approaches not just in its host ministry of food and disaster management but more broadly across thirteen key ministries and agencies. Disaster Management Secretary Mohammad Mokhlesur Rahman chaired the inaugural session. Dr Stefan Frowein, ambassador of the delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh, Dr Justin Lee, high commissioner of Australia, Stefan Priesner, resident representative of DFID Bangladesh, Nick Russel, project management expert, CDMP, and Md Abdul Wazed, joint secretary to the food ministry, addressed the inaugural session.