By Xinhua,
Yangon : Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein has reiterated support for an ASEAN-led mechanism and commitment of the government to work closely with the task force of the ASEAN-led mechanism, led by Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Surin Pitsuwan, said a press statement at the end of Surin’s two-day working visit to Yangon Wednesday afternoon.
Surin’s Yangon visit was to formally and personally deliver and follow up on the decisions made on Monday’s Special Meeting of ASEAN Foreign Ministers in Singapore, the statement said.
Surin stressed in the statement that his mission to Yangon was for ASEAN to take the lead in coordinating and liaising with the UN system and international community in assisting Myanmar to recover from cyclone Nargis.
During his talks with Thein Sein, Surin informed Thein Sein some key steps to be undertaken in implementing the ASEAN meeting’s decisions, stressing that the expeditious execution of these steps would create an atmosphere of mutual confidence among all parties concerned and ensure the success of the tremendous tasks at hand, including the upcoming ASEAN-UN International Pledging Conference in Yangon on Sunday, May 25, and the rehabilitation, resettlement and reconstruction to follow.
Myanmar agreed at Monday’s Singapore ASEAN foreign ministers special meeting to the establishment of a task force which will comprise officials from each member nation with Surin as the chairman.
According to the meeting sources, the task force, which will channel international aid to Myanmar, will send some 270 relief personnel to the cyclone-ravaged country and members of the team will visit Myanmar cyclone-hit areas immediately to make assessment and determine the degree of destruction before extending the necessary relief assistance.
Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is due to arrive Yangon Thursday morning to look into Myanmar’s post-storm situation and discuss channels for scaling up quick relief efforts and prompt distribution of the aid supplies during his two-day visit in Myanmar.
Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, hit five divisions and states — Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago,Mon and Kayin on May 2 and 3, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and infrastructural damage.
Hard-hit coastal towns in the southwestern Ayeyawaddy division include Haing Gyi Island, Laputta, Mawlamyinegyun, Bogalay, Phyarpon, Kyaiklat, Ngaputaw, and Dedaye, while worst-hit areas inYangon division comprised Kungyangon, Thanlyin, Kyauktan, Twantay, Kawmu as well as the Yangon city.
According to an updated official death toll, as many as 77,738 people have been killed with 55,917 still missing, totaling 133,655 in the disaster. The number of the injured went to 19,359.