Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 8 May 1991

Vol. 408 No. 1

Adjournment Debate. - Bangladesh Disaster.

Mr. J. Bruton

There have been tragic events in Bangladesh as a result of the cyclone that occurred there at 1.45 a.m. last Tuesday. A wave 25 feet high swept over a large part of that country. When one bears in mind that some 20 million people are living less than five feet above sea level and that the wave in question was 25 feet high one can visualise the extent of the damage. Floods which occurred in that country in 1988 killed 10,000 people. When all the evidence is in, this flood will probably prove to be even more severe in its consequence.

That country is in deep poverty. For every 1,000 children born 184 die before they reach age five. They are a race who unfortunately have become accustomed to natural disasters. There is considerable doubt as to the true cause of the disasters of flooding that occurred in Bangladesh. Traditional environmental wisdom suggests that the flooding of this very low lying country is caused by the inundation that comes as a result of the deforestation of the Himalayas. On the other hand, there is a proposal to erect a major sea wall which is being aided by the World Bank at a cost of £4 billion to prevent the sea inundating the country, but some fear that that may make the situation worse in the sense that it may prevent water coming down from the Himalayas escaping.

There are suggestions that at the moment somewhere in the region of 150,000 corpses are to be seen heaped against sandbags in the Bay of Bengal as a result of the tragic events in the last week. There are cyclone shelters but they are not adequate. On one island, Kutubdia, the cyclone shelters can accommodate 20,000 people but there are 90,000 living on that island. Clearly, there is urgent need for a co-ordinated programme to deal with that problem, first to provide emergency food aid. Much of the food aid available at the moment is not getting through. For example, water is being distributed from helicopters in plastic containers and these plastic containers are breaking up on hitting the ground and the water is lost. A proper logistical system needs to be put in place to distribute both food and water to the people who are dying. There have been major outbreaks of diarrhoea among children as a result of lack of proper facilities and that needs to be attended to.

As a long term measure steps need to be taken to ensure that adequate cyclone shelters are available. Also a scientific examination needs to be carried out of the extent to which deforestation in the Himalayas is the cause of the problem and the extent to which lack of adequate protection from the sea is a problem. We need to bring together scientific resources to ensure that the right solutions to the problems are put forward and not false solutions to what are not the actual problems. That is why I suggest that Europe as a whole needs to pool its resources as the largest trading bloc in the world to help solve this problem. I believe the best way for Europe to do that is through an EC Summit.

Finally, this problem is added to the many problems of growing world hunger. We could have a crisis of world hunger similar to that in 1974 given the food shortages in the Soviet Union and Africa and the huge disruption of this very rich rice growing area in Bangladesh. I hope the Minister will agree that an urgent EC Summit initiated by the Taoiseach will be seen to be an appropriate co-ordinated response to this awful problem.

Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (Mr. Calleary)

My thanks to Deputy Bruton for giving me the opportunity of putting on the record the situation as we see it.

As the House will be aware, thanks to the partial restoration of the communication system with Bangladesh, more precise, although still far from complete, information is now coming through on the tragic aftermath of the cyclone and tidal wave in Bangladesh which took place on 30 April. It is now clear, unfortunately, that it caused even more damage than was initially estimated. A tidal wave of 25 feet exceeded the previous record high of 20 feet. It swept the entire coastal belt of Bangladesh, affecting at least 15 million people in the area and leaving many populated islands completely submerged for eight hours and more.

The death toll has been confirmed officially at 125,000 and this unfortunately must be regarded as a minimum and likely to rise. Local media estimates are reported to have put the number of deaths as high as 150,000. Several million people have lost their homes and are in immediate need of drinking water and food.

Apart from thirst and hunger there is a serious danger of disease such as typhoid and cholera. An outbreak of diarrhoea, one of the biggest killers of children in the developing world, and which predated the cyclone, is also widespread. It is regarded by medical experts as likely to make the population more prone to dysentry and acute respiratory infections.

The Government of Bangladesh quickly initiated their own relief operation but in view of the scale of the crisis realised that they would be unable to cope on their own and issued an appeal for international assistance. The Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Perez de Cuellar, has also appealed through the United Nations Disaster Relief Organisation (UNDRO) to the international community to respond as generously as possible to the plight of Bangladesh. UNDRO has undertaken the principal co-ordinating role in the relief effort, which has initially focused on the worst hit areas of Chittagong, Cox's Bazzar and the Islands of Noakholi.

Other specialised UN agencies such as UNICEF, WHO and WFP are collaborating with UNDRO. The Bangladesh Red Crescent, the League of Red Cross Societies and many other NGOs are also involved in the relief effort.

UNICEF has already distributed 2,500 emergency water treatment kits; 56 major emergency kits adequate for nearly 300,000 people; four million oral rehydration packets aimed at combating dehydration caused by diarrhoea and a plane load of water purification tablets. The World Food Programme has allocated 7,000 tons of wheat and vegetable oil and pledged 13,000 tons more.

Due to the far flung nature of the disaster and the fact that not just part of the mainland, but many islands went under water, the relief operation is particularly difficult to carry out. It is, however, beginning to become more organised and more people are being reached with supplies.

The enormity of the disaster and the fact that the total extent of the damage cannot yet be fully assessed makes it still impossible to put an overall figure on what exact assistance is needed. Very substantial financial assistance will, however, be required to meet both the immediate and the long term needs. While at the outset of the disaster cash was the most immediate requirement, and more is still needed, specific requirements of relief materials — shelter, food and medical supplies — have now been identified.

The international community has reacted positively to the disaster, reflecting its sympathy with the burden of suffering which the people of Bangladesh have to bear yet again.

On the basis of the information available to us, allocations totalling in excess of US $130 million have been made by Government both to the UN agencies and to non-governmental organisations in cash and kind. A number of countries have also provided helicopters to help relief workers reach those in need.

As the Minister, Deputy Collins, stated already in the Dáil last week, part of the £200,000 disaster relief allocation will go to Concern and UNDRO. The remainder will be allocated to other relief agencies whose applications for assistance are now being considered. The leading Irish agencies which have long standing links with Bangladesh have reacted to the crisis quickly and effectively. In total, the Government and Irish relief agencies are involved in providing relief valued at more than £1.25 million.

Several agencies, I understand, are planning to issue appeals for Bangladesh. I am confident that the people of Ireland will respond with their usual generosity.

This crisis has been compounded in the last 24 hours by a tornado, which brings home the extreme vulnerability of Bangladesh. The one very small source of satisfaction is that the early warning system and the few cyclone shelters which had been established prior to the tragedy are believed by experts to have mitigated the number of casualties.

I can understand that the Deputy wishes to encourage further action to relieve the suffering of the people of Bangladesh, but I do not share his view that calling an emergency EC summit is the best way to do this. Of its nature a summit takes time to organise and time to bring the Heads of State and Government together. On past experience, this could take nearly a month or more. This is a long time in terms of the suffering of the people of Bangladesh. The immediate needs are to expand and accelerate relief efforts on the ground. I note that the last emergency summit held in April, which did discuss and make wide ranging decisions in relation to Kurdish refugees, had been called almost a month earlier to discuss the Gulf War and its political and economic consequences. When the Kurdish crisis arose, it was added to the agenda.

As the Taoiseach said this morning, major disasters are discussed regularly at the Council of Foreign Ministers who decided on action to be taken at Community level. The next Council meeting is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, 13 and 14 May. I would like to assure Deputy Bruton that we will take all appropriate steps possible to ensure that attention continues to be paid to this very grave situation by the European Community and the international agencies.