There's enough home-grown talent
Far from being a "basket case", the image beloved of the international media, Bangladesh has a lot going for it. Yes, it has a population around four times that of England and Wales, with a similar land area; yes, almost a third of that land is subject to floods and/or cyclone damage; yes, it's a financially poor country and yes, a lot of the population find it hard to make ends meet, but...
It's a young country, formed only in 1972. Some of us have coats nearly as old as Bangladesh and I know of quite a few boats that are even older, still cruising the inland waterways of Britain. Come to think of it, probably some boats in Bangladesh are older than the country.
Abundant in Bangladesh are energy and initiative. Take the recent general election (December 29th 2008) as an example. The caretaker government decided to run a clean election, free of violence and intimidation by political cadres; the decision was made to issue each of the 80 million-plus voters with a photo identity card.
Firms in the developed world bid for the job, along with counting and recording systems that would be transparent and accountable (there's a 37-year history of multiple voting, ballot box stuffing and associated chicanery to dispel).
None of the firms could guarantee delivery of a tested, working system and all the paraphernalia necessary within the deadline. So, what did the person in charge do? With several months of his preparation time already gone, he started from scratch using only Bangladeshi resources. Before election day, all had been designed, produced, delivered and tested to the satisfaction of numerous international observers; on the day, everything went well with only two minor attempted infringements reported.
It all confirmed, in my mind, the response I'd been giving whenever I was asked what should be done about the problems of Bangladesh: that the people of the country are well able to work out for themselves what they regard as problems, and to find appropriate solutions.
It's a young country, formed only in 1972. Some of us have coats nearly as old as Bangladesh and I know of quite a few boats that are even older, still cruising the inland waterways of Britain. Come to think of it, probably some boats in Bangladesh are older than the country.
Abundant in Bangladesh are energy and initiative. Take the recent general election (December 29th 2008) as an example. The caretaker government decided to run a clean election, free of violence and intimidation by political cadres; the decision was made to issue each of the 80 million-plus voters with a photo identity card.
Firms in the developed world bid for the job, along with counting and recording systems that would be transparent and accountable (there's a 37-year history of multiple voting, ballot box stuffing and associated chicanery to dispel).
None of the firms could guarantee delivery of a tested, working system and all the paraphernalia necessary within the deadline. So, what did the person in charge do? With several months of his preparation time already gone, he started from scratch using only Bangladeshi resources. Before election day, all had been designed, produced, delivered and tested to the satisfaction of numerous international observers; on the day, everything went well with only two minor attempted infringements reported.
It all confirmed, in my mind, the response I'd been giving whenever I was asked what should be done about the problems of Bangladesh: that the people of the country are well able to work out for themselves what they regard as problems, and to find appropriate solutions.
posted by Skip | 11:40 pm
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