Aid Projects: Capital Equipment (Hansard, 2 February 2005)

§ The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos)
My Lords, there is no bar on the purchase of large capital items, provided the purchase is made within the framework of a development project. They key prerequisite is always that the purchase will have a significant impact on poverty. Good development practice, rather than any legislative framework, tends to limit capital purchases.

§ Lord Naseby
My Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Baroness for that Answer, which is good news in principle. She will be aware that the tsunami took place six weeks ago and the Governments of both the Maldives and Sri Lanka have published their needs. Within the framework mentioned by the noble Baroness, when will 230 Her Majesty's Government actually decide to buy fishing boats and to send JCBs? Does she not realise that if you are a fisherman on a devastated island in the Maldives, or on the smashed coast of Sri Lanka, what you need is a new fishing boat and not a framework agreement?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, first, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Naseby, for sending me a copy of his report following his visit to the Maldives and Sri Lanka. On the specific points he raised, we will be working through trust funds with respect to the reconstruction and rehabilitation effort. Obviously, we want to bring down the transaction costs for any one government and that tends to be done either through the World Bank or through the regional development banks.
As regards sending specific fishing boats or JCBs, in Sri Lanka we have asked NGOs to put in proposals to cover for up to a year livelihood support activities in that area and the affected region. The reason is that in the fishing industry, for example, in Sri Lanka, many of the fishermen have died and the people are not eating nearly as much fish because they believe that the fish have been contaminated by dead bodies. We must ensure that people can sustain livelihoods while in the longer term we try to ensure that the right kind of boats, for example, are built to replace those which were lost.

§ Lord Roberts of Llandudno
My Lords, can we look again at the perimeters and the hindrances which might restrict aid reaching the places where it is most needed, or, ultimately, those who are already poor will become poorer? Does not the Minister agree that in the coastal areas, which have been devastated, we must not prevent the fisher folk resuming their work and allow developers, with an eye on tourism, to come in because that will mean that the poor will become poorer?

§ Baroness Amos
My Lords, while I understand the sentiments underlying that question, it is important that we work with the people and the governments in those countries on the longer-term reconstruction effort. We should support those people who want to return to fishing and we should support those who want to move into an alternative form of livelihood. That is why, in terms of longer-term support, we await the needs assessment for each country and look at what we can do as part of a co-ordinated effort on reconstruction.