By IANS
Dhaka : Some foreign donors rushing relief to cyclone-hit Bangladesh want it to be distributed through non-governmental organisations (NGOs), but the government is insisting it should be “in the driver’s seat”.
The government and donors came up with differing views on distributing relief for cyclone victims at a meeting here amid reports of delays in reaching relief to far flung areas.
Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury urged the donors to provide assistance through government channels for better coordination of aid activities, media reports said Thursday.
However, British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury said the best way to provide aid was through NGOs, which work directly among the people.
“We will need to carry out relief activities in a coordinated manner. We informed them of the matter so that aid is given through the government,” Iftekhar Chowdhury told media.
“There is no misuse (of relief) because the government is in the driver’s seat. What we say is that the government should be in the driver’s seat in the process,” the Bangladesh official maintained.
However, Anwar Choudhury, a British diplomat of Bangladeshi origin, said: “Our aid normally goes through a mixture of channels. So far $10 million British aid has gone through UN agencies — UNDP, Unicef and others. And, it has also gone through NGOs.”
Stressing the need for coordination, the high commissioner said there were a lot of people who had not received help and the challenge was to locate them and try to help them till more relief arrives.
Media reports said the task had been too much for the Bangladesh Air Force, which was carrying out sorties to rescue people and distributing relief from the first day, Nov 15, when Cyclone Sidr hit the Bangladesh coast.
Chief Advisor Fakhruddin Ahmed, who performs the prime ministerial functions, visited some of the cyclone-hit areas in Bagerhat Wednesday. He assured that relief operations would continue “as long as required”, the United News of Bangladesh (UNB) news agency said.
He urged different NGOs to coordinate with the local administration “for proper distribution of relief and a balanced rehabilitation”, UNB said.
Lt Col Faruque Husssain of Bangladesh’s Armed Forces Division (AFD) said the country had received 255.687 tonnes of relief materials from foreign countries by Wednesday.
India has dispatched 80.571 tonnes of aid including ready-to-eat food, medicines, water filters, blankets, tents and medical teams, The Daily Star said.