Bangkok/Yangon - An international emergency aid push for
about 1.9 million Myanmar villagers and farmers whose lives were
devastated by Cyclone Nargis gathered 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 food,
tents, medical supplies, drugs, and pumps and generators for water
and sanitation systems from Doctors Without Borders arrived in Yangon
Monday morning, Veronique Terrasse, spokeswoman for the aid group,
said in Bangkok.
Meanwhile, a US Air Force C-130 cargo plane departed U-Tapao
Airbase in Thailand, carrying 12,670 kilograms of water, mosquito
nets and bedding for neighbouring Myanmar.
'This is a small salve for a much larger wound,' US Ambassador to
Thailand Eric John said from U-Tapao, 120 kilometres south-east of
Bangkok.
John praised Thailand for allowing the kingdom to be used as a
launch pad for emergency aid to Myanmar, which is also known as
Burma, and called on Myanmar's ruling generals to facilitate the
relief effort by granting visas to international disaster experts.
'In addition to supplies, it is absolutely crucial that response
experts be allowed into Burma to help those struggling with the
devastation that affects them,' the diplomat said.
The aid deliveries represented a small start of a potentially
massive relief effort to provide food, water, shelter and medicines
to those affected by Nargis, which slammed into the country on May 2
and 3, leaving up to 100,000 dead, according to United Nations
figures.
The government estimated the death toll at 28,458 with 33,416
missing, according to state-run television.
Myanmar's ruling junta last week officially welcomed international
aid in the catastrophic wake of the cyclone, but the country's
xenophobic regime has thrown up obstacles to the aid effort, such as
seizing a supply of high-energy biscuits from the World Food
Programme Friday at Yangon International Airport because Myanmar
officers wanted to distribute the aid themselves and refusing to
grant visas to relief experts from the United Nations and aid
agencies.
'We're still waiting for information on the visas,' World Food
Programme spokesman Marcus Prior said in Bangkok.
Disaster relief experts have warned that Myanmar faces a 'health
catastrophe' unless 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 on Saturday to endorse
a new constitution that would effectively cement its political
dominance over future elected governments, a small flow of emergency
aid has started to reach affected areas in the countryside.
The UN's World Food Programme, for instance, had stockpiles of 800
tons of food inside Myanmar, which it started distributing to the
needy last week. The agency 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, Prior said.
Doctors Without Borders has 43 international staff and 1,200
locals already working in many of the areas hardest hit by 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 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,' a Doctors Without Borders statement said.
And a lot more aid could be delivered if international aid workers
were granted visas to enter the country.
Doctors Without Borders said it was still awaiting the approval of
dozens of visa applications for technical support staff and
coordinators from Myanmar's embassies around the world.
rock n roll fan .May 12th, 2008 - 13:12:51
we need more use of howard stern , and the robospanker . hannah montana , save us from these crazy people . i know ! i'll get-out my black-berry , and zap something . god i love modern times ! love ya all , Rock N Roll Fan.
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