Bangladesh hands over second consignment of relief to Sri Lanka

A Bangladesh Navy Ship ‘BNS Bangabandhu’ carrying the second consignment of relief materials from Bangladesh for victims of recent floods and landslides in Sri Lanka , arrived at the Colombo Sea Port on the morning of Sunday. Bangladesh High Commissioner Tarik Ahsan formally handed over the relief materials to the Secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management of Sri Lanka, S. S. Miyanawala at a simple ceremony on board the  ‘BNS Bangabandhu’ at the Colombo Sea Port in the afternoon. The handing over ceremony was attended by the Commander of Western Naval Area, Rear Admiral Jayantha De Silva; Defence Adviser of Bangladesh High Commission, Commodore Aslam Parvez; Capt Jahangir Adil Samdany of ‘BNS Bangabandhu’; Counsellor of Bangladesh High Commission, Md. Sakib Sadakat; other officials ;and representatives of the media. 

In his speech, the  Secretary of the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Ministry warmly thanked the Bangladesh government for sending the second consignment relief materials. He added that the second consignment will help Sri Lankan government in tackling the challenge of mid-term rehabilitation of people affected by the floods. The Bangladesh High Commissioner said that he was honoured to hand over the relief materials sent by the Bangladesh government under the instructions of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for victims of the colossal floods and landslides that struck Sri Lanka last month. He remarked that this was a manifestation of the deep friendship and mutual cooperation existing between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

This second consignment of 110 tons of relief materials includes larger quantities of water bottles, water purifying kits, clothing, generators, tents, mosquito nets and rain coats than were sent in the first consignment of 9 tons by Bangladesh Air Force carrier C-130 on 27 May 2016. In addition, the second consignment also includes new items like charger light, baby food, hygiene items, medicines, rice, etc sent in keeping with the changing needs of the affected people. The total worth of relief materials sent via these two consignments stands at about Taka 110 million equivalent to about LKR 200 million.

Earlier, on 20 May, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sent a message of condolence to President Maithripala Sirisena on the loss of lives, property and displacement of people caused by the disaster and reaffirmed Bangladesh’s solidarity and support for the government as well as for the people of Sri Lanka.