PMQT Written Answers – 15 May 1991

Below is the text of the written answers relating to Prime Minister’s Question Time from 15th May 1991.

PRIME MINISTER:

Bay of Bengal

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Prime Minister whether Her Majesty’s Government made any offer to the Bangladeshi authorities to provide technical assistance in predicting storm surges in the Bay of Bengal.

The Prime Minister : No. This is an area where the United States of America is the principal donor. Bangladesh’s cyclone early warning system was established in the 1970s when a satellite ground station was installed in Dhaka by a Bangladeshi organisation, the Space Research and Remote Sensing Organisation. The ground station has subsequently been upgraded through a project funded by the Office of the United States Foreign Disaster Assistance and implemented by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. United States aid assistance has continued for this activity and now totals excess of US$6 million.
The Bangladesh authorities issued warning of the cyclone two days before it struck and an estimated 350,000 people were evacuated to anti-cyclone shelters.

Iraq

Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the Iraqi representations concerning their need to use helicopters for internal security which led the coalition representatives to concede that point during the ceasefire talks.

The Prime Minister : The Iraqi use of helicopters was considered at a meeting between General Schwarzkopf and the Iraqi military authorities on the suspension of hostilities at Safwan on 3 March. An Iraqi request to permit helicopter flights for transportation was agreed, without limitations of their use.