May 12, 2008, 6:01 GMT
Bangkok/Yangon - An international emergency aid push for some 1.9 million Myanmar villagers and farmers devastated by Cyclone Nargis was gathering steam Monday as planeloads of goods arrived in Yangon, but agencies still complained of a lack of visas for foreign aid workers.
The first of three cargo planes with a total of 110 tons of tents, medical material and drugs, pumps and generators for water and sanitation, and ready-to-use therapeutic food from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) arrived in Yangon Monday morning, said Veronique Terrasse, spokeswoman for MSF in Bangkok.
Meanwhile, a US Air Force C-130 aircraft departed U-Tapao Airbase in Thailand, carrying 28,000 pounds (12,670 kilograms) of water, mosquito nets and bedding for neighbouring Myanmar.
Myanmar's ruling junta has officially welcomed international aid for the estimated 1.9 million people affected by Cyclone Nargis, that slapped into the central coastal region on May 2 to 3 claiming up to 100,000 lives and leaving the country's traditional rice bowl, the Irrawaddy Delta, a disaster area.
But the xenophobic military regime has thrown up obstacles to the aid effort, such as seizing a supply of high-energy biscuits from the World Food Programme (WFP) at Yangon International Airport last Friday because Myanmar officers wanted to distribute the aid themselves, and refusing to grant visas to relief experts from the United Nations and other aid agencies.
'We're still waiting for information on the visas,' said WFP spokesman Marcus Prior, in Bangkok.
Disaster relief experts have warned that Myanmar faces a looming 'health catastrophe,' unless adequate measures are taken quickly to prevent outbreaks of cholera, typhoid and other diseases associated with poor sanitation and unburied bodies.
While efforts were slowed last week by the military, which was preoccupied with staging a national referendum held on Saturday to endorse a new constitution that will effectively cement their political dominance over future elected governments, a small flow of emergency aid has started to reach the affected areas in the countryside.
WFP, for instance, had stockpiles of 800 tons of food inside Myanmar, which it started distributing to the needy last week. The WFP brought in at least eight flights of emergency goods, including more than 55 tons of biscuits, last week.
Yangon airport authorities allowed the delivery of the goods to UN personnel in Myanmar over the weekend, changing their previous stance, said Prior.
MSF has 43 international staff and 1,200 Myanmar already working in many of the areas hardest hit by Cyclone Nargis, including Yangon, Daala, Twantey, Bogaley, Kungyangon, Pathein, Haigyi, and Laputta, providing medical care, access to clean water, food, and basic relief items.
But the trickle of aid getting in is still minute compared with what is needed.
'More than one week after the disaster, despite the sending of three cargo planes and some positive signals, it has been very difficult to provide highly needed supplies for the heavily affected population in Myanmar,' said a MSF statement.
And a lot more aid could be delivered if international aid workers were granted visas to enter the country.
'As of today, MSF still awaits the approval of dozens of visa applications for technical support staff and coordinators submitted to various embassies around the world,' it added.
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