=====
Zomi says:
"Believe me, the government will not allow outsiders to go into the
devastated area," said Yangon food shop owner Joseph Kyaw. "The government
only cares about its own stability. They don't care about the plight of
the
people."
The SPDC is worse than animals.
=====
Highlights:
The U.N. agreed to resume flights but relief workers, including Americans,
were still being barred entry.
Heavy rain that is forecast in the next week is certain to worsen the
plight
of almost 2 million people awaiting food, clean water, shelter and
medicine.
The government, which wants full control of relief operations, has less
than
40 helicopters, most of them small or old. It also has only about 15
transport planes, primarily small jets unable to carry hundreds of tons of
supplies.
"Not only don't they have the capacity to deliver assistance, they don't
have experience," said Mark Farmaner, director of the pro-democracy Burma
Campaign UK. "It's already too late for many people. Every day of delays
is
costing thousands of lives."
Grim assessments were made about what lies ahead. The aid group Action
Against Hunger noted that the delta region is known as the country's
granary, and the cyclone hit before the harvest.
"If the harvest has been destroyed, this will have a devastating impact on
food security in Myanmar," the group said.
On Friday, Myanmar's military rulers seized two planeloads containing
enough
high-energy biscuits to feed 95,000 people sent by the U.N. World Food
Program, which briefly suspended help after the action. The U.N. later
agreed to send two more planes to help survivors.
The U.N. has grown increasingly critical of Myanmar's refusal to let in
foreign aid workers who could assess the extent of the disaster with the
junta apparently overwhelmed. None of the 10 visa applications submitted
by
the WFP has been approved.
"Believe me, the government will not allow outsiders to go into the
devastated area," said Yangon food shop owner Joseph Kyaw. "The government
only cares about its own stability. They don't care about the plight of
the
people."
=====
Aid is on the way to devastated Myanmar but so is heavy rain
Fri May 9, 7:55 PM ET
More aid is on the way to cyclone-ravaged Myanmar - but so is the heavy
rain.
A week after Cyclone Nargis flattened low-lying villages and killed whole
families at a time, the military junta finally agreed Friday to allow a
U.S.
cargo plane to bring in food and other supplies to the isolated country.
Myanmar gave the green light after confiscating other shipments, prompting
the U.N. to order a temporary freeze in shipments.
The U.N. agreed to resume flights but relief workers, including Americans,
were still being barred entry.
With phone lines down, roads blocked and electricity networks destroyed,
it
was nearly impossible to reach isolated areas in the swamped Irrawaddy
delta, where the stench of unburied and decaying bodies added to the
misery.
Heavy rain that is forecast in the next week is certain to worsen the
plight
of almost 2 million people awaiting food, clean water, shelter and
medicine.
Diplomats and aid groups warned that the number of dead could eventually
exceed 100,000 because of illness and said thousands of children may have
been orphaned.
Survivors in one of the worst-affected areas, near the town of Bogalay
about
20 miles inland, were among those fighting hunger, illness and wrenching
loneliness.
"All my 28 family members have died," said Thein Myint, a 68-year-old
fisherman who was overcome by tears and trauma as he tried to explain how
the May 3 cyclone swept away the rest of his family. "I am the only
survivor."
Officials have said only one out of 10 people who are homeless, injured or
threatened by disease and hunger have received some kind of aid in the
week
since the cyclone hit.
Survivors were sleeping amid the debris of their splintered homes in
Bogalay, where more than 95 percent of the houses were destroyed.
"Nearly all homes were destroyed in the villages I assessed today and the
survivors have virtually no access to clean drinking water," said Gordon
Bacon, the International Rescue Committee's emergency coordinator in
Yangon.
"With each passing day, we come closer to a massive health disaster and a
second wave of deaths that is potentially larger than the first."
The government, which wants full control of relief operations, has less
than
40 helicopters, most of them small or old. It also has only about 15
transport planes, primarily small jets unable to carry hundreds of tons of
supplies.
"Not only don't they have the capacity to deliver assistance, they don't
have experience," said Mark Farmaner, director of the pro-democracy Burma
Campaign UK. "It's already too late for many people. Every day of delays
is
costing thousands of lives."
On Friday, Myanmar's military rulers seized two planeloads containing
enough
high-energy biscuits to feed 95,000 people sent by the U.N. World Food
Program, which briefly suspended help after the action. The U.N. later
agreed to send two more planes to help survivors.
The government acknowledged taking control of the shipments and said it
plans to distribute the aid itself to affected areas.
In a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press, government spokesman Ye
Htut said the junta had clearly stated what it would do and denied the
action amounted to a seizure.
"I would like to know which person or organization (made these) these
baseless accusations," he said.
The U.N. has grown increasingly critical of Myanmar's refusal to let in
foreign aid workers who could assess the extent of the disaster with the
junta apparently overwhelmed. None of the 10 visa applications submitted
by
the WFP has been approved.
Shari Villarosa, the U.S. charge d'affairs in Yangon, said she met with
Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu on Friday to discuss American
relief operations.
Myanmar says it will accept aid from all countries, but prohibits the
entry
of foreign workers who would deliver and manage the operations. The junta
is
not ready to change that position, Villarosa said she was told.
But Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, has agreed to allow a single
U.S.
cargo aircraft to bring in relief supplies for victims of a cyclone, said
Maj. Stuart Upton, a Pentagon spokesman.
"We hope that this is the beginning of broader support between the United
States and Burma to help the Burmese people," he said.
The U.S. has an enormous ability to deliver aid quickly, evident during
the
2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen nations.
Three Red Cross aid flights loaded with shelter kits and other supplies
landed Friday in Myanmar without incident. "We are not experiencing any
problems getting in, (unlike) the United Nations," said Danish Red Cross
spokesman Hans Beck Gregersen.
More than 60,000 people are dead or missing and entire villages are
submerged in the Irrawaddy delta. International aid organizations say the
death toll could climb to more than 100,000.
The U.N. estimates 1.5 million people have been severely affected and has
voiced concern about the disposal of dead bodies.
"Many are not buried and lie in the water. They have started rotting and
the
stench is beyond words," Anders Ladekarl, head of the Danish Red Cross.
About 20,000 body bags were being sent so volunteers from the Myanmar
chapter of the Red Cross can start collecting bodies, he said.
The U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization said its models forecast
three
days of strong rain that could dump 4 inches in Myanmar beginning May
15-16.
Heavy rain could worsen the situation in the storm-affected coastal
region,
the agency said, although it cautioned that forecasts beyond five days
could
change.
The lack of food and water have led to dramatic price increases. In
Yangon,
Myanmar's main city, the cost of water has shot up by more than 500
percent,
and rice and oil by 60 percent in the last three days, the Danish Red
Cross
said.
The United Nations is seeking $187 million in pledges from donor nations
to
help survivors.
"If we do not act now, and if we do not act fast, more lives will be
lost,"
said John Holmes, the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs.
U.N. officials said the pledges are needed to provide food, water
purification tablets, emergency health kits, mosquito nets, cooking sets,
plastic sheeting and water jugs for at least 1.5 million people in the
next
three months.
"Myanmar intends to cooperate with the international community to address
this great challenge," said Kyaw Tint Swe, Myanmar's U.N. ambassador. But,
he added: "It has to be orderly and systematic."
The U.N. requires that experienced aid workers accompany relief supplies
in
every recipient country until they are delivered, officials said.
"Those are the rules," said Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the U.N.
Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "We have to be sure the aid
is
reaching the victims."
The junta said it was grateful to the international community for its
assistance but the best way to help was to send in material rather than
personnel.
Relief workers have reached 220,000 cyclone victims, only a fraction of
the
number of people affected, the Red Cross said.
"Believe me, the government will not allow outsiders to go into the
devastated area," said Yangon food shop owner Joseph Kyaw. "The government
only cares about its own stability. They don't care about the plight of
the
people."
One relief flight was sent back after landing in Yangon on Thursday
because
it carried a search-and-rescue team and media representatives who had not
received permission to enter, the junta said. It said the plane had flown
in
from Qatar.
According to state media, 23,335 people died and 37,019 are missing from
Cyclone Nargis.
Grim assessments were made about what lies ahead. The aid group Action
Against Hunger noted that the delta region is known as the country's
granary, and the cyclone hit before the harvest.
"If the harvest has been destroyed, this will have a devastating impact on
food security in Myanmar," the group said.
http://news.yahoo.com:80/s/ap/20080509/ap_on_re_as/myanmar_cyclone
=====
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