By Xinhua,
Washington : The United States is offering 3 million U.S. dollars, up from an initial emergency contribution of250,000 dollars, in aide for cyclone-hit Myanmar, the White House announced Tuesday.
“The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has allocated an additional 3 millions dollars in funding” to help Myanmar meet “urgent needs,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
“This brings the total in U.S. assistance to 3.25 million dollars to date, which will be allocated by the USAID disaster assistance response team, also known as DART, that is currently pre-positioned in Bangkok awaiting permission to enter Burma (Myanmar),” she said.
“We urge the government of Burma to grant full access to the affected areas to international humanitarian relief teams and non-governmental organizations,” Perino said.
Prior to the announcement, U.S. President George W. Bush urged Myanmar’s government to accept increased American aid as the country limps back to normal after being ravaged by a cyclone at the weekend.
Bush said the United States has provided some assistance, but “we want to do a lot more.” He said that he is prepared to send U.S. Navy ships to help the South Asian nation recover from the effects of tropical cyclone Nargis.
Tropical cyclone Nargis, which developed over the Bay of Bengal, ripped through Myanmar’s five divisions and states, leaving at least 22,500 people dead and more than 41,000 missing.
The United States has long imposed a trade and investment ban on Myanmar, accusing the government of “poor human rights records.”