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Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the situation inBangladesh following the recent floods. [57816]Clare Short: Monsoon flooding in Bangladesh this year was the most prolonged this century, lasting more than 10 weeks in some areas.Waters began to recede from central districts in mid-September, and broadly returned to normal by the end of the month, thoughwaterlogging persists in some areas. The Government of Bangladesh, in partnership with the World Band and the Asian Development Bankin particular, has moved rapidly to begin repair of roads, bridges, railways and flood protection embankments. Major communicationsare fully restored, though very considerable work remains to be done on many rural roads and other infrastructure.Although many people are short of food, often for want of immediate employment, and there have been outbreaks of diarrhoeal disease,there is at present no famine or unusual epidemic of diseases as suggested by some media reports. However there has been an almostcomplete loss of seasonal crops in some areas, and many people have lost homes, assets and livelihoods. Millions of people requireassistance to restart rural livelihoods, rebuild their homes, and earn a living. The Government of Bangladesh is distributing foodto vulnerable people, and the gap in food supply is being managed through increased public and private sector imports. They aremanaging the food supply jointly with the World Food Programme, and providing small cash grants. The UK has contributed £11 millionto ensuring food availability over the coming months. NGOs are also helping with small grants and loans to restore homes andlivelihoods.Much of the restoration of infrastructure will be done through cash of food for work schemes to give people an income. DFID iscontributing a further £10 million in projects to rehabilitate agriculture, essential infrastructure, and to support NGO projectswhich help the poor rebuild their lives. In parallel with urgent work which has already started, donors, including the UK, areworking in sector sub groups jointly with Government and some NGO partners, to establish the full extent of priority rehabilitationneeds. The situation is expected to appear to return to normal in around five months, but continuing attention to the longer term,unseen impacts on the economy, financial institutions and peoples' assets will be needed for some time to come. |