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The fortunate segments of the world do not understand how people suffer from the floods regularly every year. Listen to the "wish" of Ramzan Ali who, along with his young children, had nothing to eat for several days and was confined to a water-logged temporary shelter in Sirajganj District. Ramzan could not tolerate the outcry of his hungry children any longer and wished that floodwaters would kill them. This death wish reflects the feelings of the starving people who received no relief for about 15 days.
The suffering of the people is indescribable. Millions of people have been made homeless -- some have lost their homes forever -- as a result of erosion caused by the devastating river currents. They are either living on the streets or in temporary shelters. The crops of almost half of the country have been damaged, and many farmers have lost everything -- their seeds, seedlings, homes, money, possessions and even some have lost their lands and lives.
Furthermore, thousands of people are temporarily unable to earn a living: weavers cannot work as their looms are under water; day laborers, rickshaw pullers, construction workers, porters, transport workers and even fishermen are jobless as the highway system has been disrupted. In short, the normal life of people has been interrupted by the floods.
A drinking water crisis has forced people to drink flood water, and the scarcity of food has pushed them to eat almost anything, like weeds, in the water, resulting in diarrhea and other waterborne diseases across the country. Hospitals have been overcrowded with patients lacking necessary medial treatment, and there have been reports of deaths.
People who have not yet been victimized by the flood are also passing sleepless nights fearing the same consequences. Many of them are stranded as major roads, bridges and ferry piers have been seriously damaged.
Meanwhile, a group of opportunists and exploiters have been operating bloodsucking businesses that take advantage of the desperation of the flood victims. Whenever the water level has decreased, for instance, farmers have attempted to look for resources to cultivate their lands, again collecting money through bank loans. Public bank officials, however, are allegedly requesting a bribe of 10 percent of the proposed loan, which must be paid before the loan is approved or, at the latest, when the money is collected at the bank.
In order to avoid this time-consuming and exploitative process, farmers seek alternative options. One option is the large number of microcredit non-governmental organizations that are ready to approve loans for the farmers. NGO officials are kind enough to come to the home of the farmers to offer them loans without a bribe in most cases. However, beginning the second week after receiving the loans, the installments must be paid along with a portion of the interest of about 20 percent, although the actual interest is many times higher than this rate through the need to pay additional fees. In case of any failure to repay the installments, the valuables of the "defaulters" will be taken away -- it may be the tin roofs of the farmer's house or his implements that are used to plow his land.
The next bloodsuckers, the "mahajons," or private creditors in rural areas, are also willing to lend money at high interest rates to the farmers, who have to pay 7 to 8 percent interest per month (the annual rate is about 84 to 96 percent). The creditors will keep the deeds of the land against the loans. If the money is repaid, including the interest, then the farmer will get back his land. Otherwise, the family will be landless forever.
With the majority of the population of Bangladesh suffering from the floods, the government's response has been, to say the least, inadequate. The government, for example, calculated that there were more than 5.68 million flood victims in the country but only allocated 2.26 million takas (US$33,000) to assist them, which is less than 0.40 takas (US$.01) per person.
These figures though do not fairly depict the government's lack of commitment and efficiency in addressing this year's flooding problem. A report quoting the adviser for the Ministry of Disaster Management, Tapan Chowdhury, stated that the Department of Relief and Rehabilitation distributed 1.05 million takas (US$15,305), including money and relief items, among the flood victims on Aug. 7, spending 1.2 million takas (US$17,491) as operational costs for the staff! The adviser was also happy to inform the media that the government was under less pressure this year during the flood season as many of the flood victims were sheltered in their relatives' homes prior to the storms.
Governments of the past and present in Bangladesh have had nothing to do but to express their happiness, publicizing their "achievements" while criticizing the response of other nations. For instance, they have criticized a neighboring country for opening the gates of dams built on 52 common rivers inside its territory during the rainy season. In addition, the Bangladesh government can only accuse other nations that are responsible for global warming rather than adequately assisting its own citizens.
The Bangladesh government seems reluctant to arrange any permanent solution to manage the floods with foresight and long-term planning. The authorities do not acknowledge their failure to prevent corruption in constructing flood-controlling dams. They have no plan to construct an early warning system to save the lives of people and their property before the floods begin. Moreover, they cannot prosecute those who take bribes from the poor farmers in exchange for loans.
The government permits the bloodsucking businesses of microcredit NGOs and mahajons rather than meeting the needs of farmers. Indeed, when the rainy season arrives, it pours financial opportunity for corrupt officials, as they can spend more money than the amount spent on relief for the victims. It is now time for them to enjoy the hardships of a suffering nation as well.
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(Rater Zonaki is the pseudonym of a human rights defender living in Sylhet in Bangladesh who has been working on human rights issues in the country for more than a decade and who was a journalist in Bangladesh in the 1990s.)
