Hard for Govt in Bangladesh

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33061, 31 October 1972, Page 18

Hard for Govt in Bangladesh

According to the people of Bangladesh, their Government had not come up to expectations, Mr S. M. Smith, a Christchurch man, told a meeting of the Christchurch branch of the United Nations Association last evening.

Mr Smith was in Bangladesh earlier this, year for three months, supervising the spending of money from Red Cross sources.

being killed and the Government would not guarantee them any security.

He said that the country had been ravaged by flood and famine since the war, that many villages had no men, food prices were increasing, unemployment was rife and food reserves were depleted. Less than 25 per cent of the country’s former industrial capacity had been regained, and students were frequently demonstrating in the streets.

However, the country had expected more from the Government than it could reasonably do, he said. This criticism was made worse by the fact that there had been no free elections in the new State. More aid needed

The country needed aid until it reached at least a subsistence level, he said. The Bihari refugees were particularly vulnerable. They were crammed under canvas with no sanitation and inadequate food, with nothing to do. They were frightened to leave the camps for fear of