By D. Arul Rajoo, Bernama,
Yangon : Almost two months after the deadly ‘Cyclone Nargis’ claimed about 140,000 lives, the Myanmar Government says there are several indications that the worst of the emergency crisis may be over.
Myanmar’s Deputy Foreign Minister, U Kyaw Thu Thu said the Asean-led Post Nargis Joint Assessment for Response, Recovery and Reconstruction (Ponja) confirmed that no death was reported over the past several weeks.
“On the part of the government, there has been less and less request for emergency assistance coming from communities and local governments,” he said at the Asean Roundtable on Ponja held here today.
Also present were Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan, Noeleen Heyzer, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, and representatives from Asean countries, including Malaysian Ambassador to Myanmar, Datuk Mazlan Mohamad.
U, who chairs the Triparte Core Group established by Asean to undertake the recovery and reconstruction of the cyclone affected areas, also said that various reports indicated that the worst of the emergency crisis might have stabilised, although by no means, over.
He told the meeting that the official death toll was 84,537, with 53,836 people missing and 19,359 injured in the cyclone which struck the south of Yangon and the country’s rice bowl, the Irrawaddy, on May 2 and 3.
“The devastation caused by ‘Cyclone Nargis’ was unfortunately, beyond imagination. Small villages in low-lying Delta areas were helplessly exposed and some were totally wiped out of the map,” he said.
The country’s military government was severely criticised by the world community when it initially refused to accept international assistance, especially granting visas to relief workers.
But after United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Surin stepped in, it let UN agencies and several aid agencies to offer assistance, while the number of visas for foreign experts were increased.
When Myanmar said during the International Donors Conference here on May 25, that it needed about US$11 billion (US$1 = RM3.25) to undertake recovery and reconstruction works, Asean set up the multi-national Ponja to make its own assessment.