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Saifur trashes flood damage estimates as guesswork

Says govt will jointly make assessment with donors

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
Finance and Planning Minister M Saifur Rahman yesterday dismissed the flooddamage estimates of the UN and others as 'mere guesswork' and said the government does not subscribe to these estimates, as it has not assessed the damage.
"We're not with them. These are all guesses on flood losses. We'll jointly assess the damage with the donors once floodwaters recede completely and seek assistance for post-flood rehabilitation," Saifur told reporters after a meeting on simplification of projectformulation procedure at the National Economic Council office in Dhaka.
The UN and the government on Thursday put the flood damage estimates in the region of $7 billion. The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), an independent civil society think-tank, initially estimated the damage figure at $ 2 to 2.5 billion. The UN, CPD and the government also fought a war of words and numbers over the contradicting damage estimates.
Asked about the actual damage figure, Saifur said, "Floodwaters are yet to subside and in many places the water is even rising. The government will send its teams to the flood-affected areas alongside the ones of the donors. They will assess the damage at the field level, which will be the government's estimate on the flood damage."
"Of course, I agree with you..." he told reporters when asked if the UN aid appeal based on the 'exaggerated' figure will damage Bangladesh's image before the eyes of the international community.
Saifur slammed the UN appeal on the sidelines of the meeting and said the government did not ask them to beg on behalf of the country, according to meeting sources. The country's image will suffer for the next 20 years because of the appeal, he was quoted as observing.
Immediately after the raging monsoon deluge submerged most of the country, the government had said it would not seek relief assis-
tance. It also decided that the Economic Relations Division of the finance ministry would ask for donors' support for rehabilitation of infrastructure on the basis of proper assessment.
The launch of UN appeal for international aid in presence of the disaster and relief management minister on Thursday has not sat well with the finance ministry, either, officials said. The ministry believes the appeal against the pronounced position of the government and that too in presence of the minister has heavily dented the nation's image.
The officials fear the inflated damage estimates would prompt other ministries to put tremendous pressure on the finance ministry to release funds for post-flood rehabilitation programme and make room for misu