Intervention by His Excellency Dr. AK Abdul Momen, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh at the briefing on “The humanitarian situation in Nepal caused by the earthquake” organized by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 4 May 2015, GA Hall, 1600 hrs
Thank you, Madam Chair for giving me the floor and also thank Ambassador Durga Prashad Bhattarai for giving us a detailed briefing.
On behalf of the people of Bangladesh, we express our deepest condolences for the victims of the devastating earthquake which shook Nepal on 25th April. We hope that people and the government of Nepal will be able to overcome their losses with the help of its friendly neighbors. When the earthquake shook Nepal, it also shocks many areas of Bangladesh and out of fear, thousands of people lived in open fields to avoid aftershocks. However, the good news is only 5 people died in the Nepali earthquake in Bangladesh.
President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have expressed deep condolences for the losses caused by the devastating earthquake in Nepal, one of our closest neighbors and valued members of the South Asian Association of the Regional Cooperation, SAARC.
In the wake of the recent devastating earthquake in Nepal, the Government of Bangladesh was among the first countries to send the humanitarian assistance team to Nepal. The Bangladesh government took immediate decision to send relief materials and the medical team immediately. All airports in Bangladesh have been opened for foreign countries that want to send relief materials to Nepal. Bangladesh’s government has already talked to India so that the relief materials could go to Nepal through our Banglabandha Land Port using Indian territories.
Bangladesh was one of the first countries that send a medical team comprising 17members of medical donors plus technicians and nurses. The medical team was deployed at the Lalitpur district of Kathmandu to provide medical treatment to the earthquake victims. As of the day before yesterday the Bangladesh Medical team provided medical services to 2160 persons.
So far Bangladesh Government has sent 3 Air flights to Kathmandu and delivered relief materials that include :
- 10 tons of life-saving medicine
- Nearly 1000 tents
- 1300 pieces of blankets
- 5 tons of dry food
- 4 tons of drinking water
- Thousand pieces of clothes
In addition, yesterday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed to send additional 10,000 metric tons of rice and additional quantity of water to earthquake-hit Nepal. Besides government, many NGOs, Corporate house/office, Social Organizations have extended their support by sending relief materials to the earthquake victims in Nepal.
The people of Bangladesh feel strongly for the friendly and courageous people of Nepal, and Bangladesh will remain by the side of the disaster-struck people of Nepal and provide all assistance possible.
Thank you