PM assures rebuilding of houses damaged by Mora [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

PM assures rebuilding of houses damaged by Mora

Local June 01, 2017

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday told parliament that the government would took all-out effort to rebuild houses and establishments damaged by severe cyclonic storm Mora that lashed Bangladesh’s southeastern coast on Tuesday.
Two Navy ships already reached Kutubdia and Teknaf, two badly affected islands, for relief works, she said replying to a supplementary question from ruling Awami League lawmaker Mahbubul Alam Hanif during prime minister’s question answer hour.
Helicopters are ready to operate relief work in the remote areas if needed, said Hasina.
‘We are preparing list of affected people who lost houses,’ she said, adding that food and cash were being provided to the affected people. Prime Minister’s Office, disaster management and relief ministry, administration and local government bodies were working together for relief and rehabilitation.
The Awami League has formed several teams to visit affected areas, said Hasina, also the Awami League president.
Thousands of people are living under the open sky as severe cyclonic storm Mora lashed Bangladesh’s southeastern coast, damaging thousands of houses and blowing over trees Tuesday morning.
At least seven people were killed and dozens were injured in the cyclone that sent fishing boats and ships aground and knocked out power connections to thousands of houses in almost entire Cox’s Bazar and parts of Chittagong.
Hasnia said, ‘We are lucky that the storm hit the land during the ebb and as a result the storm surge did not become deadly.’
Government’s quick response to the disaster by evacuating people reduced casualties, she said, adding that many houses and establishments were damaged as well as countless trees were uprooted
Hasina also said that that government was going to import rice to recover domestic production losses caused by flash flood in haor region.
None of the cyclone Mora-affected people would face food crisis, she said.
‘The food minister is now in Vietnam to import rice and we would buy rice from where we would get the rice,’ Hasina said, adding that the government also took steps to increase local rice production.
Finance ministry officials said that the government might keep aside a sum in the next budget to pay for the rice imports.
The world’s fourth-biggest producer of rice with more than 30 million tonnes of rice, Bangladesh consumes almost all its production to feed its population. The country did not import rice in past several years.
Answering a question from Awami League lawmaker Mohammad Abdullah, the prime minister said that boro crop of 2.50 lakh hectare in the hoar region was destroyed in the flash flood.
She said that total target of boro production from the region was 9.64 lakh tones.
She said that pre-monsoon excessive rain fall and onrush of water from the hills in bordering areas caused the flash flood in the haor areas.
Hasina said that till May 22, government allocated 3,924 tonnes of Gratuitous Relief rice, Tk 2.25 crore as Gratuitous Relief, special grants of Tk 57 crore, 36,840 tonnes of vulnerable group feeding rice and Tk 82.07 under Employment Generation Programme for the poor.
Government is distributing seed of Nericka Aus and high-yielding Aus among the farmers and would distribute free of cost agricultural equipments for the upcoming Boro and Aman season.
Replying to another supplementary question from independent lawmaker Rustum Ali Faraiji, the prime minister said that the government had special attention on reconstruction and construction of embankment in coastal areas.
She also asked water resources ministry to work more quickly and efficiently.