By D. Arul Rajoo, Bernama,
Bangkok : More than two weeks after Myanmar was struck by the devastating Cyclone Nargis, only about 30 percent of the immediate aid supply has reached the estimated 2.4 million victims.
This follows the continued baring of international aid workers from entering the area, relief agencies said Monday.
World Food Programme (WFP) spokesman Marcus Prior said it had organised 14 air cargo shipments into Yangoon and dispatched sufficient food to feed over 250,000 people in the affected areas.
However, he admitted it was a slow and insufficient process.
“We are using boats and badges to reach the victims. The Myanmar Government has indicated its willingness to allow us to use helicopters,” he told a press conference to update on the United Nations Humanitarian Assistance to Myanmar.
Prior said that although 17 international staff were given visa, they were not allowed to leave Yangon.
He said that 24 of its national staff were on the ground but were already overworked and exhausted as the official death and missing persons breached the 130,000 mark.
Besides rice, high-energy biscuits and cereal from overseas, WFP has also purchased 8,500 tonnes of rice in Myanmar, sufficient for a two-week ration to feed over 1.5 million people in the worst-affected area of Irrawaddy delta in the south of Myanmar.
Amanda Pitt, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said initial estimates indicated that 150,000 people were staying in about 120 temporary settlements in the delta.
She said UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes was visiting the delta Monday, to assess the situation while UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon was expected to arrive in Yangon on Wednesday to step up pressure on the military junta to allow international relief to be mobilised into disaster zones.
Pitt added that aid agencies hoped that with more diplomatic efforts, including Monday’s meeting of Asean Foreign Ministers in Singapore, more aid could be delivered there.
“The aid is getting through, but slowly,” she said, confirming that 72 international UN staff were currently in Yangon while 109 national staff were already present in the cyclone-affected areas.
She said Myanmar’s National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee reported that it had spent US$18.5 million (US$1=RM3.23) on disaster relief, as of May 16.
From assessments made so far, she said the most affected areas were in Bogale, Labutta, Ngaputaw, Dedaye, Pyapon, Kyaiklat and Mawlamyinegyun where about 1.4 million of of the population was affected.
Eun Ju Kin of the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said the agency had deployed 100 satellite terminals to the country to help restore vital communication links.
But, she admitted all the equipments were handed over to the government and that they were communicating with Myanmar’s communication ministry to deliver some of the satellite terminals to aid agencies.
On concerns that opening of schools on June 2 would affect those being used as temporary shelters, Unicef’s Shantha Bloemen said it was crucial to get children back to their usual routines to minimise the impact of the disaster.
Meanwhile, Prior said the use of Don Mueang Airport here as a logistics centre for humanitarian aid would help in bringing in more aid to Myanmar as the Yangon airport had insufficient capacity or equipment to handle large aircraft or storing facilities.