The New Nation - Internet Edition

bdnews24.com, Dhaka

The government has for the first time called for international help to rehabilitate the victims of cyclone Aila.

Food Minister Abdur Razzak on Thursday urged development partners and NGOs at a meeting on post-Aila rehabilitation activities at his office to come out with assistance.

He said the Government had earlier not asked for international help because it was carrying on with the initial relief activities on its own.

He thanked the NGOs working on their own to help the victims of Aila and different calamities.

He was informed of the NGO activities in the aftermaths of Aila. These include normalising the lives of the affected people by building house and bringing them back to their old professions, building cyclone shelter centres in the vulnerable areas, eliminating salinity from the coastal areas, setting up water purifying plants and constructing barracks for the poor.

The NGO affairs bureau has been tasked with gathering information on these activities and informing the disaster management bureau and the deputy commissioners who will coordinate the activities.

Food secretary Mokhlesur Rahman presided over the meeting attended by representatives from the USAID, Muslim Aid, WFP, IDB, BRAC and Karitas.