HC Deb 11 November 1998 vol 319 cc359-60
8. Mr. Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley)

What assistance her Department has given in 1998 to countries suffering from natural disasters. [57808]

The Secretary of State for International Development (Clare Short)

During 1998, the Department for International Development has responded to an unprecedented number of natural disasters, including floods in east Africa, China, Bangladesh, India, a tidal wave in Papua New Guinea and hurricanes in central America and the Caribbean; when we are through the present crisis, we have to look at whether environmental causes were behind the phenomenon. In addition, my Department has continuing commitments to natural disasters from previous years such as that in Montserrat. The assistance provided to date in 1998 totals £47,220,940.

Mr. Evans

Does the Secretary of State think that the amount of money that she has at her disposal for international disasters is sufficient to meet the needs of those particular countries? Does she agree that what is important is not only the amount of financial assistance that is given to the countries, but the speed with which the money gets through? It strikes me that the assistance that has been given to Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala is not only too little, but has come very late to help them to minimise the casualties that they now face.

Clare Short

First, on the question whether the Department has sufficient resources for disasters, the answer is yes. We programme a certain amount of money for disasters of all sorts, including those arising from war, but, by definition, they are unpredictable. The Department has the capacity to reprogramme and find more resources if there is a high and disproportionate number of natural disasters. We have sufficient funding, so that is no problem.

I agree that speed is essential. My conflict and emergency department is famous throughout the world for being one of the speediest. It is no good simply appearing on television and pledging money—we have to produce food and help on the ground quickly. We were lucky that HMS Sheffield was in the area so that we could help. We managed to get food and medical supplies to the area very quickly. The hon. Gentleman is right in what he says, but we are responding. There has not been a terrible delay and things are getting better in central America.

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