DELTA PLAN IMPLEMENTATION : Netherlands to help Bangladesh

The Netherlands on Wednesday assured Bangladesh of providing all kinds of support and assistance for implementation of its Delta Plan-2100, as the two countries are facing the common problems.
‘The Dutch cooperation in Bangladesh’s water sector development has long been continuing. We’ll also help implement Bangladesh’s Delta Plan-2100 by providing all sorts of support,’ said Dutch minister of infrastructure and environment Melanie Schultz van Haegen.
Her assurance came during a presentation of the Dutch delta approach at Grand Hotel Amrath Kurhaus in the Hague, the administrative capital of the Netherlands, in the presence of Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
The ministry of infrastructure and environment of the Netherlands arranged the event which was attended by water resources experts from both the countries.
Staff delta programme commissioner of the Netherlands Jas Van Alpnes and joint chief of the general economics division of the planning commission, Bangladesh Mafidul Islam gave an overview on the Netherlands delta approach and Bangladesh’s Delta Plan-2100 respectively.
Foreign minister AH Mahmood Ali, state minister for water resources Mohammad Nazrul Islam, PM’s principal secretary Md Abul Kalam Azad, senior secretary of the commerce ministry Hedayet Ullah Al Mamun, foreign secretary Md Shahidul Haque, shipping secretary Shafiq Alam Mehedi and PM’s press secretary Ihsanul Karim were, among others, present on the occasion.
The Dutch minister said the Netherlands and Bangladesh have been facing common challenges in controlling flood. ‘So, we need collaborative measures to encounter these challenges,’ she said.
Putting emphasis on sharing knowledge and experience for practical solution of the problems in water resources management, Melanie Schultz said the delta plan is very crucial for both the Netherlands and Bangladesh.
In this connection, the Dutch minister said two-thirds of the Netherlands land are vulnerable to flood. ‘Keeping this in mind, we took another delta plan after the successful implementation of the 60-year-long delta plan of 1953,’ she said.
‘There’s a word that the God had created the world, while the Dutch have created the Netherlands,’ she said.
The governments of Bangladesh and the Netherlands are working together to formulate a long-term plan for management of the Bangladesh delta, known as the Bangladesh Delta Plan – 2100.
The formulation project is led by the general economics division of the Bangladesh planning commission. Having started in 2014, the project is expected to complete in September next year.
Bangladesh is the world’s largest delta. Its rivers and floodplains, that account for 80 per cent of the country, support life, livelihoods and the economy. Bangladesh, a rapidly developing country, faces major inter-related delta challenges in water safety, food security and socio-economic development and is prone to natural calamities such as flood, cyclone, and drought.
Although the primary objective of consultations is to listen to stakeholders about the constraints they face on a day-to-day basis and the challenges in their area, they also serve the additional purpose of stakeholder sensitisation. Aiming to enable the government to address future challenges of delta management, the Delta Plan 2100 will develop a long-term vision of the Bangladesh Delta’s future.
This long-term vision, combined with the use of scenarios, will create room for adaptive and dynamic planning by constantly taking into account uncertainties in future developments in climate change, socio-economic development, population growth and regional cooperation.
Later, Sheikh Hasina visited Deltaic Island by a helicopter and harbour by a ship.

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