By D. Arul Rajoo, Bernama,
Bangkok : The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)’s US$70-million (US$1 = RM3.2) operation to deliver food to the over 2.4 million victims of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar faces a 64 percent shortfall, its executive director Josette Sheeran said.
Sheeran, who completed a visit to cyclone-hit areas over the weekend, said there was a need for robust support to WFP’s growing relief operation, adding that the crucial logistics operation which supported the efforts of the entire humanitarian community, was falling short by US$32 million.
“There is so much work to be done which requires sustained support by the international community. With current contributions, we will run out of food by mid-July,” Sheeran said in a WFP update on the disaster which struck the Irrawaddy delta and south of Myanmar on May 2, where more than 130,000 were killed or still missing.
She said WFP had six boats and barges running supplies into and around the delta, as well as a fleet of smaller boats shuttling supplies to more remote communities.
A fleet of trucks was running into the affected area from Yangon, and supplies were moving into the country by air, she added.