Bangladeshi leader appeals for $50M in aid

Press, 30 May 1985, Page 6

Bangladeshi leader appeals for $50M in aid

NZPA-Reuter Dhaka Bangladesh, suffering from a cyclone and tidal wave that devastated islands off its southern coast on Friday, has appealed for millions of dollars in international aid for the survivors. The President, Lieuten-ant-General Hossain Muhammad Ershad, who said on Tuesday that up to 10,000 people might have been killed in the disaster, estimated his country would require at least JUSSO million (Jill million) to help the survivors resume normal lives. “We will need nearly $5O million to get all the people back on their feet. And I will call upon all the rich nations of the world to stand by us in this hour of crisis,” he told reporters. An official source said that appeals had already been sent to all friendly Governments and various international voluntary agencies.

The Dhaka Disaster Control Centre said yesterday that it was keeping to its casualty figure of 3000 bodies recovered and 12,000 people missing because no fresh reports were available. As friends and relatives of people in the strickenareas waited for new information, thousands of people in eastern Bangladesh were rendered homeless on Tuesday by fresh floods in the Comilla and Sylhet districts. The deputy commissioners of the two districts said that about 200,000 residents had fled to higher ground, leaving all their belongings behind. Many of them had been provided with make-shift shelters in nearby towns and relief centres were being opened to provide food and medical care, they said. The Indian Prime Minister, Mr Rajiv Gandhi, was among the first inter-

national leaders to respond to Bangladesh’s call for help. He said in a message to General Ershad on Tuesday that he would send helicopters, food, and other humanitarian help if required. The United States offered $U5525,000 ($1,165,500) in immediate aid on Tuesday, and the European Commission in Brussels said that it would send food, blankets, and medicine valued at $U5375,000 ($832,500) to the tidal wave victims. General Ershad, who has ordered that the relief work be organised on a war footing, said that he would prefer cash rather than material aid to help the distressed. “We don’t want Cl3os (Hercules transport planes) to drop relief at the Dhaka Airport as they did on many occasions. That kind of relief doesn’t help us. We want cash so that we can promptly buy what we need,” he said.