By IANS
Dhaka : The rice that Pakistan rushed to Bangladesh following last November’s cyclone has been found to be rotten and Dhaka says it will urge its replacement, but not insist upon it.
The food department’s officials detected 22 containers full of damaged rice in the food aid consignment from Pakistan for Cyclone Sidr victims received at Chittagong port, the New Age newspaper reported Wednesday.
Ten tonnes of the rice received from India were also found to be rotten. The report did not indicate if this issue was taken up with New Delhi.
Ayub Meah, secretary of the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management, said: “We will urge Pakistan to substitute the same with unblemished rice. But we will not force them to replace the rotten rice since it is not a commercial cargo. It is a normal practice to destroy damaged food items at the port.”