A Critique Peter Custers IN 1987 and 1988 Bangladesh faced excessive annual floods which drew broad international attention after the flood- waters reached foreign embassies in Dhaka's Gulshan area. Bangladesh's large donors then, after many years' neglect, got alarmed to the devastations caused by the yearly floods, and sent out teams com- peting to find the proper, permanent 'solution' to prevent future flood damages. Thus, the French government under Mitterrand appointed a team of engineers, and others