The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Dhaka

The United Nations has increased allocation to a total of US dollar 14.7 million for cyclone Sidr survivors as its humanitarian affairs office called the impact of Sidr "essentially a mini-tsunami".

A UN statement on Saturday said the United Nations increased its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) allocation to a total of US dollar 14.7 million to pay for international relief assistance for the cyclone victims and the amount brought the total UN system response to about US dollar 35 million, and this figure "will continue to rise over the next few weeks".

"This funding will enable UN system to provide life-saving drinking water equipment for communities at risk from water-borne illness and other vital assistance," said Renata Lok Dessallien, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh.

"The CERF funding is crucial for preventing epidemics of water-borne disease in the cyclone-affected areas and for saving lives at this moment".

The development came a day after the United Nations humanitarian affairs office in Geneva on Friday said the impact of Sidr was "essentially a mini-tsunami.

"When you see the damage caused on the coast, they are just the same sort of images we saw after the tsunami" that struck the Indian Ocean in December 2004," said Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.