Bangladesh, Saturday, November 24, 2007

US Pacific Commander Admiral Timothy J Keating paid a courtesy call on Army Chief General Moeen U Ahmed at Army Headquarters, Dhaka Cantonment on Friday. Photo : ISPR Army chief General Moeen U Ahmed yesterday apparently dismissed some political parties’ plea for lifting the state of emergency to make way for their effective participation in on-going relief works.

“Tell me, has it any link with politics?” he told reporters after a meeting with US Pacific Commander Admiral Timothy J. Keating at the Army headquarters.

PSO Lt Gen Masud Uddin Chowdhury, CGS Maj Gen Sina Ibne Jamali and US Charge d’ Affaires Geeta Pasi were present at the meeting.

Gen Moeen said people of all walks of life came forward to serve distressed humanity after the November 15 cyclone saying, “We will be able to reach food to each union and each home.”

He suggested establishment of shelters for cattle alongside more cyclone centres as he said cyclone ‘Sidr’ took the toll of more than five lakh cattlehead as officially stated.
He deplored that no new cyclone centre was set up after 1991 although population has increased manifold since then.

Welcoming the US Navy ships that carry helicopters and medical facilities to aid relief operation, the General said US helicopters will airlift food from Dhaka and Chittagong and drop those to Barisal from where food will be reached to the affected areas.

“It will be a great help… There will be no dearth of food in the affected areas,” he said, recalling that the Operation Sea Angel had contributed a lot to relief and rehabilitation works after 1991 cyclone.

He said a Joint Forces Headquarters has been set up in Barisal to coordinate relief operations between government, NGOs and other social organisations.

The Army chief said that most urgent needs at the moment are food, pure water, clothes and powdered milk. He said US provided 10 water treatment plants and more will be coming. Besides, army water treatment plants were also pressed into operation.
“Inshallah, we will overcome the crisis soon with cooperation from all,” he told reporters.

Later, talking to reporters at Zia International Airport, Admiral Keating expressed sympathy for those who were killed and whose lives have been shattered by the cyclone.
He said they arrived here with the permission of the Bangladesh government to provide assistance for the cyclone victims. They will carry food, provide medical treatment for the injured and supply pure water.

Asked about sensitivity of the US Navy ships’ presence, Keating said “I don’t think there should be sensitivity. We’ve remarkable capacity and when requested, we’re anxious to provide that assistance. We don’ t go where we are not wanted.”
Asked how long the US ships will stay in Bangladesh, the Admiral said, “As long as it needs.”

Earlier, the US Admiral was briefed at the Armed Forces Division on deaths and destruction caused by ‘Sidr’ in 15 south and southwestern coastal districts.
The US ship was anchored at 30 kms off the Chittagong port.
The USS Essex and USS Kearsarge carry helicopters, hovercraft and equipped with hospital facilities. The first ship was scheduled to arrive here today and the second on November 27.

US Charge d’ Affaires Geeta Pasi said the United States is present in Bangladesh since her independence in 1971 and is engaged in improving livelihood in this country through various projects funded by USAID.

“We are expected to respond to the immediate needs. This is our strong partnership with Bangladesh,” she said.

This is going to be the second US Navy relief operation after 1991 when Joint Task Force Sea Angel arrived here after Cyclone Marian pounded on the country’s southeastern Chittagong region on April 29, 1991.

Cyclone Marian coupled with 8-feet tidal surge devastated Chittagong region, killing nearly 140,000 people and leaving over 5 million people homeless.

Operation Sea Angel began operation on 10 May and involved over 7,000 US soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen. It continued operation till June 13, 1991.

The US Navy was prepared yesterday to deliver much-needed food and medical supplies to hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshis stricken by Cyclone Sidr.

The arrival of the USS Kearsage off the Bangladesh coast came as authorities and aid workers warned that the South Asian country faces acute food shortages after the devastating storm ravaged crops and destroyed infrastructure across a large swath of the country.

“We are here to help the people in their time of need,” Adm. Timothy Keating, the top US military commander in the Pacific Ocean, told reporters.

The first ship arrived on Thursday and Keating said a second ship, the USS Essex, would arrive in the coming days.

The ships are each carrying about 20 helicopters, which will help delivering water, food and medical supplies to survivors in remote areas, US officials said.

“We are excited to be able to respond to the immediate needs of the survivors,” said Geeta Pasi.

The government has pledged to feed more than two million people left destitute by the storm, which killed more than 3,000.

But since the Nov 15 storm hit coastal belt of Bangladesh, officials and relief agencies have struggled to get desperately needed rice, drinking water and tents to remote villages cut off when rain and winds washed out roads.

The government has promised to distribute 33 pounds of rice per month to each of the estimated 2.5 million people in need, many of them in crowded relief camps, starting Dec 1, said Tapan Chowdhoury, Adviser on food and disaster management. The programme will last at least four months, he said.

Kelly Stevenson, the Bangladesh director of Save the Children, said the charity estimates that 50 to 90 per cent of the region’s rice crop has been destroyed, leaving up to 3 million people at risk of food shortages over the next six months.

But in the short term, aid workers were struggling to get supplies to the devastated coastal region, where shortages have led to fistfights among survivors.

“Thousands of families are facing the real possibility of a second wave of death that can result from lack of clean water, food, shelter and medical supplies,” said Stevenson.
Meanwhile, several aid groups continued work to help orphans or children who were traumatised by the cyclone experience.

“Some saw their relatives killed by trees that fell on their homes, or they saw dead bodies - something many of them had never seen before,” Raphael Palma of World Vision Bangladesh said. “They are still somehow traumatised and need support.”

UNICEF has set up special shelters for children affected by the storm, providing medical and psychological support as well as recreational activities, said agency spokeswoman Zafrin Chowdhury.

UNICEF was also working with local groups to place children orphaned during the storm with surviving relatives, Chowdhury said.

With many drinking water wells destroyed by the cyclone, the need for clean water was becoming critical to ward off deadly waterborne diseases such as cholera and severe diarrhoea.

A week after the storm, bodies were also still washing ashore.

The official death toll stood at 3,199, said Lt. Col. Main Ullah Chowdhury, spokesman for the army. The Disaster Management Ministry said 1,724 people were missing and 28,188 people had been injured. It said the cyclone destroyed 458,804 houses and partially damaged another 665,529.