By Xinhua,
Canberra : Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said on Sunday Australia will raise its aid commitment to Myanmar to 25 million Australian dollars (23.5 U.S. dollars) in the wake of cyclone Nargis.
Smith told reporters in Perth, state capital of Western Australia, that this would include the initial 3 million dollars (2.8 million U.S. dollars) that the Australian government pledged on May 7.
The 25 million dollars would be evenly split between the UN flash appeal and Australian non-government organizations.
“It’s become clear … that we are dealing with a human tragedy on a mammoth scale,” Australian Associated Press quoted Smith as saying.
“It is beyond the capacity of any one nation state to deal with.”
According to the Myanmar’s official statistics, more than 22,500 people were killed and 41,000 others went missing when the violent cyclone storm Nargis swept Myanmar’s five divisions and states last weekend.
Smith said the Australian assistance would be in the form of food, water, water purification, sanitation, health kits and tarpaulins.