Editor's Pick

No Nonsense

The dispossessed and the dying

25 November 2007
• EDITORIAL
Abdullah A. Dewan
On a September 1, 2005 broadcast of "Good Morning America," President George W. Bush somberly declared that the country was prepared to handle all Hurricane Katrina aid internally. "I do expect a lot of sympathy and perhaps some will send cash dollars," the President said of foreign governments, "But this country's going to rise up and take care of it." Despite President Bush's resolve, "America will stand on its own," more than 150 countries and foreign groups pledged $854 million in cash and oil, however, only $126 million from 40 donors (including Bangladesh's $1million) was actually received. The largest donation was pledged by the UAE -- $100 million, and Kuwait --$100 million plus $400 million in oil. Yes, the Americans did rise up to the post-Katrina recovery efforts. Those who watched Hurricane Katrina cutting a swathe of demolition across the Gulf Coast, inflicting more than 1,500 deaths -- opened their checkbooks like never seen before. They donated over $4.2 billion to the Katrina relief effort, topping the previous high of $3 billion donated after the 9/11 terrorist mayhem in New York City. The Americans' charitable giving has always been unrivaled when other nations are stuck by natural disasters. According to the Center on Philanthropy, private charitable cash giving from the US for relief efforts for the December 2004 tsunami devastations totaled over $1.62 billion. Charitable private cash donations from the US for the October 8, 2005 earthquake victims in Pakistan surpassed $66 million. Although, the Bangladesh government decided against seeking outside help officially, that didn't stop foreign governments and organisations from pledging assistance of over $550 million. Saudi Arabia's pledge of monetary donations of $100 million far exceeded the combined pledges of the rest of the world. Included in the $550 million of World Bank's pledge, $250 million is for food imports, medical supplies and cash grants, as well as for infrastructure rehabilitation and flood mitigation. Private efforts to raise funds are going on in full swing. Islamic Relief Volunteers in the Middle East have launched a campaign to raise $6 million (including the $1million, already remitted) for distraught Bangladeshis. The UK-based Muslim Aid has also raised over $618,000. Although, American private charities haven't yet responded in any measurable ways, the US emergency relief assistance in all dimensions has already been working side by side with Bangladesh and aid workers from other nations. Bangladesh expatriates in the US and other countries have already mobilised efforts to raise funds for the cyclone-ravaged victims. In what ways, if any, the Bangladesh embassy is engaging 20,000 or so expatriates in Detroit, Michigan and other cities outside the beltways of Washington D.C. isn't obvious. Akikul Haque Shamin, President of Bangladesh Association in Detroit was disappointed with an embassy official for his apathy concerning fund raising related inquiries. Nazmul Haque (MD) was expecting a phone call from the ambassador several days ago, assured by the first secretary -- the phone call is yet to come. But as we watch:
  • The dead are still decomposing in swamps and rivers.
  • The survivors say they can't believe they're still living.
  • Mothers can't find the words to describe the force of the winds that blew their children from their grips and hurled them into the muddy waters of the rivers, only to show up days later covered under debris -- floating and bloated.
  • The survivors are wondering if the dead would know that "living can be more painful than death."
  • The anguish of the dispossessed is now apparently tempered only by the immediate need for some food, drinking water, clothes, medicine, and a place to sleep -- almost any place.
  • The green belts of the country's forest, the Sundarban, surrendered nearly a quarter of its forestry to lessen the fury of Sidr and save lives.
We all have a job to do -- raise funds and raise the conscience of the people around us. Natural disaster experts have already started exchanging ideas -- mostly rehashing the old ones -- about how future deaths and sufferings can be minimised. The 2,000 shelters built after the 1991 cyclone can accommodate only about 500,000 of the nearly 10 million coastal residents exposed to the recurrent fury of the ocean. The country needs more shelters -- many times more and then some. A World Bank project, envisioned by France, Japan and the U.S., to construct 8,000 km of dikes to control the rivers at a cost of $10 billion, had to be abandoned when faced with opposition from farmers who'd lose land for the project. Another idea to construct massive Dutch-style dikes to hold back the sea -- and future cyclone-induced tidal waves -- was also shelved, arguing that such a system was unfeasible due to unsteady dynamics of the coastal soil. Thus, the only hope given to the people: Live with nature's mercy -- we'll return with relief and rehabilitation materials when the next calamity occurs, and they did. A merry-go-round process is thus set in motion to play out, until, finally, the people in the coastal areas become extinct and the land is grabbed by the greedy ocean. Recently, an alternative approach brought some glimmer of hope. NGOs such as U.K.-based Practical Action have developed simple dwelling designs -- two-foot-high concrete plinths topped with low-cost and easily replaceable locally fabricated jute panel walls. This must be complemented by improving drainage in the rivers and canals in low-lying rural Bangladesh. Notwithstanding these preparations, a World Bank report predicts that as sea level rises with global warming, as much as 18% of Bangladesh's current landmass -- swaths of coastal land -- will disappear in coming decades. These dooms-day predictions and the wreckage inflicted by Sidr must raise the consciousness of those nations who have cashed the most from their industrial practices, spawning the global warming dilemma, to innovate technology to reverse the process. The world needs technology to burn "clean oil" -- one that'd enable carbon capture and storage -- and thus lessen global warming. To this cause, Saudi Arabia, at the opening of the Opec summit in Riyadh on November 17, announced the creation of a fund for research on climate change dilemma and pledged $300 million. Kuwait and the UAE pledged $150 million each the next day, making the pot $600 million within 24 hours. Domestically, all foreign and internal cash donations, in addition to spending on immediate exigencies, must also be invested in water purification plants, tents, and other emergency materials in order to respond to outcries promptly after any future natural catastrophe. Emergency exigent preparedness through periodic rehearsals should be instituted all over the coastal belts without any dilly-dallying. While all these projects are progressing, the country must also revive the idea of investing in a weather satellite, reassuring the surviving dispossessed of more reliable weather prediction -- and thus preserving an aura of somber tribute for the dead. Dr. Abdullah A. Dewan is Professor of Economics at Eastern Michigan University.
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