Plan to retrofit main public bldgs to cut quake damages
Government will retrofit all the important public buildings gradually to protect them from the damage and casualty during an earthquake, said Food and Disaster Management Minister Abdur Razzaque yesterday.
Razzaque said this while he was addressing the inaugural function of a two-day workshop at Hotel Sheraton in the city.
He said they are also encouraging the private building owners to retrofit their buildings especially high-rise ones to protect them from damage during an earthquake.
“We are creating awareness among the private building owners in this regard,” he said.
The European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department in cooperation with its 27 DEPCHO implementing partners from across South Asia are holding the workshop.
Bangladesh is particularly vulnerable to increasing intensities and frequencies of natural disasters in recent years ostensibly due to the impacts of climate change, said the minister. “We are victims of circumstances for which we are not responsible,” he said.
About one-third of its population, that is some 60 million people, still lives in poverty. Around 229 million people were directly affected by natural disasters between 1979 and 2008, with over 191,415 killed and economic damage was 5.6 billion US dollar, he said.
In 2007 alone, the estimated economic loss due to cyclone Sidr and two times flood in 2007 was around 2.7 billion US dollar. The devastation of cyclone Aila in 2009 was enormous, he said, adding that the salinity effects have still been persisting.
Apart from this, the crops of over three hundred thousand acres were fully damaged by Aila and 7.5 hundred thousand acres by Sidr, he said.
Razzaque said the South Asian countries like India, Nepal and Pakistan are very vulnerable to natural calamities and they can exchange their experience each other in this regard.
He said the regional disaster management has been increasing day by day.
Dr Stephane Frowein, ambassador to the Delegation of the European Union in Bangladesh, inaugurated the workshop. Dr Stephane in his speech highlighted the importance of investing in disaster preparedness.
He said the sixth DIPECHO Action Plan for Sough Asia, which will be launched at the beginning of 2011, would have an estimated budget of 12 million Euros.
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