UNB, Khulna :
Describing Bangladesh as the country most vulnerable to climate change, Disaster Management Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya on Wednesday urged the global community to take steps in a coordinated way to face the challenges.
He made the call while talking to reporters after inaugurating a project named ‘Nobo Jatra’ at a city hotel.
Under the project, a total of 2 lakh families of 740 villages under 40 unions in five upazilas-Dakope and Koyra in Khulna and Kaliganj and Shyamnagar in Satkhira-will receive healthcare services, agricultural support, training for employment, food and nutrition facilities. The estimated cost of the five-year project is Tk 590.
Attributing the casualties in the cyclones of 1970 and 1991 that killed over 11 lakh people to the lack of preparedness, the minister said the country has overcome the situation. “We’re now able to alert people five days before any disaster strikes.
We’ve managed shelters for several lakh people to cyclone centres in coastal areas,” he said. US Ambassador in Dhaka Marcia Bernicat who was present at the programme said Bangladesh fared much better in food security in the last 45 years.
She also said the country’s people are receiving better healthcare services following the reduction in extreme poverty. The US envoy, however, said all these achievements are at stake for some internal and external reasons, including seasonal flood, cyclone and others natural calamities.
Disaster Management Secretary Md Shah Kamal, Khulna divisional commissioner Abdus Samad and Chief of Party of Nobo Jatra project Rakesh Patel, among others, addressed the programme held with National Director of World Vision Bangladesh Fred Witteveen in the chair.
