DHAKA: Thousands of Bangladeshis are struggling to make a living, with more than 40 percent of the country submerged in water following the worst floods since 1998, officials said Saturday.
As of Saturday 41 people had died from the floods, which has affected more than 5.5 million people out of a population of 166 million since June, according to government data.
“We are continuing relief activities in the flood-hit areas,” Moazzem Hossain, additional secretary at the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, told Arab News. “At present, around 70,000 flood victims are sheltered in 1,452 shelter centers and we will continue this relief support as long as needed.”
The worst-affected areas in the north, northeast and central Bangladesh include Kurigram, Gaibandha, Nilphamari, Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Natore, Sirajgong, Bogura, Jamalpur, Netrokona, Sylhet, Sunamganj, Munshiganj, Tangail, and Manikganj districts.
Officials said that although the floodwaters had receded, the recovery time could be longer in certain pockets of the country due to waterlogging which would invariably “increase the suffering” of people in several areas.
“Including the two main rivers, Padma and Jamuna, 12 other rivers are now flowing above the danger level,” Arifur Rahman, executive engineer at the flood forecast and warning center at the Water Development Board told Arab News. “The situation is expected to have a better look by the end of this week as floodwater started receding in some areas.”
On the ground, however, residents said the situation was much worse than what was being reported.
“I have been living on the dam for around one month,” Ashek Nizam, a 43-year-old fisherman from Munshiganj district, told Arab News. “The floodwater started inundating our village during night hours and we didn’t get enough time to save our valuables. I just rushed to the nearby dam with my three children and wife.”
He said that the floods had dealt “a double blow” amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “I had no income since last April due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I don’t know how I can feed my children in the coming days since my annual rice stocks have been washed away by floodwater,” he added.
Abdur Rahman, another flood victim and a farmer from the same area, was distraught and feared a “bleak future” after losing all his cattle to the floods.
“It appeared so quickly that I was not able to save my cattle,” he told Arab News, his voice choking as he spoke. “I have no idea how I can continue my land cultivation in the next dry season.”
Hossain said authorities were assessing the damage and losses caused.
“Authorities will continue the relief support program unless people find the way out of their regular livelihoods. We have enough resources and funds in stock and there is nothing to worry about in this situation unless any other major disaster hits the country.”
Thousands struggle to stay afloat as Bangladesh floods wreak havoc
https://arab.news/jy9wv
Thousands struggle to stay afloat as Bangladesh floods wreak havoc
- As of Saturday 41 people had died from the floods, which has affected more than 5.5 million people
- Officials said that although floodwaters had receded, recovery time could be longer due to waterlogging
India conveys concerns to China over hydropower dam in Tibet
- China is set to begin construction of the hydropower dam in Tibet on the Yarlung Zangbo river which flows into India
- Chinese officials say that hydropower projects in Tibet will not have a major impact on the environment or on downstream water supplies
NEW DELHI: India’s foreign ministry said on Friday that New Delhi has conveyed its concerns to Beijing about China’s plan to build a hydropower dam in Tibet on the Yarlung Zangbo river which flows into India.
Chinese officials say that hydropower projects in Tibet will not have a major impact on the environment or on downstream water supplies but India and Bangladesh have nevertheless raised concerns about the dam.
The Yarlung Zangbo becomes the Brahmaputra river as it leaves Tibet and flows south into India’s Arunachal Pradesh and Assam states and finally into Bangladesh.
“The Chinese side has been urged to ensure that the interests of downstream states of the Brahmaputra are not harmed by activities in upstream areas,” Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a weekly media briefing.
“We will continue to monitor and take necessary measures to protect our interests,” he said.
The construction of the dam, which will be the largest of its kind in the world with an estimated capacity of 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, was approved last month.
Jaiswal said that New Delhi had also lodged a “solemn protest” with Beijing against its creation of two new counties — one of which includes a disputed area also claimed by India — last month.
“Creation of new counties will neither have a bearing on India’s longstanding and consistent position regarding our sovereignty over the area nor lend legitimacy to China’s illegal and forcible occupation of the same,” he said.
Relations between Asian giants India and China, that were strained after a deadly military clash on their disputed border in 2020, have been on the mend since they reached
an agreement in October to pull back troops from their last two stand-off points in the western Himalayas.
The two armies have stepped back following the agreement and senior officials held formal talks for the first time in five years last month where they agreed to take small steps to improve relations.
Marcos drops estranged VP Duterte from Philippine security council
MANILA: Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte will no longer sit on the National Security Council after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed an order removing her office from the agency, following a bitter split between the two former allies last year.
Marcos said the reorganization of the National Security Council (NSC) was needed to “ensure that its council members uphold and protect national security and sovereignty.”
The vice president’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“At the moment, the VP is not considered relevant to the responsibilities of membership in the NSC,” Lucas P. Bersamin, Executive Secretary to the President, said in a statement.
The council’s reorganization was also aimed at guaranteeing a resilient national security institution that was able to adapt to new challenges, according to the order, which was signed on Dec. 30 and released on Friday.
The changes have also excluded former presidents from council membership and empowered Marcos to appoint “other government officials and private citizens” as needed.
Sara Duterte, the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, is currently facing impeachment complaints accusing her of graft, incompetence and amassing ill-gotten wealth while in office. She has denied the allegations.
Duterte has said she had contracted an assassin to kill the president, his wife and cousin who is the speaker of the House of Representatives if she herself were killed. She later claimed her remarks had been taken out of context.
Bangladesh revamps worker training for Saudi 2034 FIFA World Cup projects
- Govt to prepare training centers with focus on Saudi market demands
- Reskilling, upskilling services to be provided to migrants already residing in the Kingdom
DHAKA: Bangladeshi authorities are revamping training for prospective migrant workers and will offer upskilling programs to those residing in Saudi Arabia to tap into the labor market ahead of the FIFA World Cup, which the Kingdom will host in 2034.
Last month, the football governing body confirmed that Saudi Arabia had won the bid to host the world’s largest sporting event.
With the bid proposing to hold games across 15 stadiums in five cities, many new migrant workers will be involved in building new sports and transport networks, as well as hotel infrastructure.
In Bangladesh, which has a major expat community in Saudi Arabia, the trend is viewed as an “opportunity” for the country’s migrant workers, according to A.Z.M. Nurul Huq, joint secretary at the employment wing of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.
“It’s a huge task, and a lot of construction works will take place targeting this World Cup event. Here lies the opportunity for us as our migrants have been working with much goodwill in many sectors of the Kingdom for many years,” Huq told Arab News.
“Saudi Arabia has to build over a dozen new stadiums, renovate existing ones and develop numerous new accommodation facilities, along with necessary infrastructure and connectivity.”
Some 3 million Bangladeshi nationals live and work in Saudi Arabia. They are the largest expat group in the Kingdom and also the biggest Bangladeshi community outside Bangladesh.
Many are employed in the construction sector as masons, electricians, pipe fitters, plumbers and electricians.
“Bangladeshi migrants can be more actively employed in the construction work for the FIFA World Cup,” Huq said.
“Works are underway for providing reskilling and upskilling services to migrants who are already in the Kingdom. In this way, our workers will be able to secure their jobs and earn more.”
For the past few years, as Saudi Arabia is prioritizing efforts to improve the professional competence of employees under its Vision 2030 program, the expatriates’ ministry has been collaborating with the Kingdom’s skills verification authority, Takamol.
The agency, which manages migrant skill certification based on the needs of Saudi employers, provides Bangladesh’s 113 technical training centers with a list of the Kingdom’s latest workforce requirements.
“Our centers tailor their programs to equip workers with the necessary skills. Upon completing the training, the prospective migrants receive certification through Takamol, which is recognized by Saudi authorities,” said Shah Zulfiquer Haider, deputy secretary at the ministry’s training wing.
As demand is set to increase in line with 2034 World Cup projects, more Bangladeshi training centers will focus on the Saudi market in particular.
“We are planning to strengthen our collaboration with Takamol,” Haider said. “Currently, a dozen technical training centers are preparing skilled workers to meet Saudi Arabia’s demands. We will soon increase the number of training centers, which will produce more skilled migrants tailored to the needs of the Saudi labor market.”
Malaysia doubles patrols to find Myanmar migrant boats after nearly 200 detained
- Malaysia doubles patrols to find Myanmar migrant boats after nearly 200 detained
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s coast guard said on Friday it was doubling patrols in its waters to locate boats carrying undocumented Myanmar migrants, after almost 200 were detained on an island in the northwestern Malaysian state of Kedah.
The coast guard said police had detained 196 undocumented Myanmar migrants in the early hours of Friday after their boat came ashore on a beach on the resort island of Langkawi.
“Based on information the coast guard received, there are two more boats carrying undocumented Myanmar migrants at sea but their exact location is still unknown,” the coast guard said in a statement.
Malaysian coast guard director-general Mohd Rosli Abdullah said authorities were patrolling the northern waters off Langkawi and border areas, and had arranged for air surveillance to be conducted to locate the boats.
The coast guard is also in contact with Thai authorities to identify the movement of the boats carrying the migrants, Mohd Rosli said.
Earlier on Friday, local English daily The Star reported about 200 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar had come ashore on Langkawi. The Rohingya are a mainly Muslim minority in majority Buddhist Myanmar.
The coast guard did not specify in its statement whether the migrants were Rohingya.
Around one million Rohingya have fled, mostly to neighboring Bangladesh, to escape a Myanmar military offensive launched in August 2017, a campaign that UN investigators have described as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.
Mynamar’s military rulers deny the allegations.
Malaysia, which does not recognize refugee status, has long been a favored destination for ethnic Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar or the refugee camps in Bangladesh.
But in recent years, Malaysia has turned away boats carrying Rohingya refugees and rounded up thousands in crowded detention centers as part of a crackdown on undocumented migrants.
Between 2010 and 2024, Malaysian authorities detained 2,089 undocumented Myanmar migrants attempting to enter the country by sea, the coast guard said.
Dense smog shrouds Indian capital, threatening to disrupt flights
- Delhi ranked third among the world’s most polluted capitals in Friday’s live rankings by Swiss group IQAir
- On social media, India’s largest airline IndiGo and low-cost carrier Spicejet caution against weather delays
NEW DELHI: Thick smog engulfed the Indian capital on Friday, prompting warnings of possible flight disruptions from airport and airline officials, as worsening air quality cut visibility to zero in some areas.
Delhi, which has been battling smog and poor air quality since the beginning of winter, ranked third among the world’s most polluted capitals in Friday’s live rankings by Swiss group IQAir.
No diversion or cancelation has been reported yet, an airport spokesperson said, although authorities warned in a post on X that aircraft lacking equipment to enable landings in low visibility could face difficulties.
On social media, India’s largest airline IndiGo and low-cost carrier Spicejet also cautioned against weather delays.
Delays averaged eight minutes for 20 flights by 10:14 a.m., aviation website FlightRadar24 said.
Some train services in the capital were also delayed, media said.
New Delhi’s air quality was rated “very poor” on Friday, with an index score of 351, the country’s top pollution control body said, well beyond the levels from zero to 50 that it considers “good.”
