Myanmar says no need for foreign aid workers, while the country's cyclone
survivors are still in need of plenty more assistance.
(ASIA) BO THIN, MYANMAR (MAY 9, 2008) REUTERS -
Frustration is mounting over Myanmar's generally feeble response to
one of its worst disasters in memory and particularly the delays in giving
visas to aid workers and landing rights for relief flights.
Survivors have been mostly fending for themselves in the swampy delta
after Cyclone Nargis packing winds of up to 190 kph (120 mph) whipped up a
massive wall of sea-water that hurtled through the low-lying Irrawaddy delta.
Survivors can only search for things in the rubble to keep themselves
alive.
"How I am now? I am destitute. We're still living in this
destroyed place," said 73-year-old O Myin.
Villages were swept away leaving corpses littering the rice fields of
the Delta, once called "Asia's rice bowl". Children were the most
vulnerable to the onslaught.
40-year-old farmer, Tei Lin, has been looking for his wife and
daughters since the storm hit but to no avail.
"I have been looking for them since the day of the incident,"
said Tei Lin.
Dead bodies could be seen lining the riverbank, while people continue
to salvage what they could find in the wreckage.
Scores of trees blocked pathways or balanced precariously on top of the
few buildings left standing in U Khin-Hlaing village.
People lived in temporary shelters, while the victims had no hospital
to go to.
U Thein, a survivor of the storm, lost one of her children during the
storm. Her back is severely hurt, but there is no medication or treatment
available.
"I have two children, one of them died. He died in the
storm," U Thein said.
Around her, in hushed tones, villagers said more than 100 of their
friends and relatives were killed in Saturday's (May 3) carnage.
Besides the cawing of crows and gentle weeping of the destitute, the
only sound is the hammering of nails as villagers try to rebuild their homes
in the malaria-infested swamplands.
No soldiers or government agencies have turned up to help.
The official death toll still stands at nearly 23,000, with 42,119
people remained missing although experts fear it could be as high as 100,000.
With saltwater ruining wells, grain stores and rice fields, the relief task
ahead will be enormous.
The United Nations estimates at least 1.5 million people out of a
population of 53 million are "severely affected" -- needing food and
shelter.
Meanwhile, dozens of human rights activists gathered outside the
Myanmar embassy in Bangkok to push the government to open its doors to foreign
aid workers to go inside helping cyclone victims.
"The SPDC will not allow aid workers and relief worker to go
inside the country" said Pooja Pate, a human rights activist.
The activists also requested the referendum to the constitution be
delayed because they think the vote might not be transparent.
"We're worried that the aid may be used as bribes to vote yes, in
the referendum on May 10," said Pooja Pate.
Paul Risley, the WFP's Regional Communication Advisor in Asia
criticised the delay by the Myanmar embassy in processing visas to 10 of its
aid workers who are ready to go inside Myanmar to help people.
He also emphasised the critical assistance needed for the cyclone
victims.
"We want the confidence from the government that we can assist
them in meeting the challenge of getting food aid and other humanitarian
assistance to the people in the cyclone hit areas. This is a far bigger
challenge than the government and the military can meet alone," Risley
said.
Thailand's prime minister also announced on Friday that he would fly to
cyclone-stricken Myanmar this weekend after British and American envoys urged
him to ask the ruling generals to open the door to Western aid.
The U.S. Navy said four ships, including the destroyer USS Mustin and
the three-vessel Essex Expeditionary Strike Force, were heading for Myanmar
from the Gulf of Thailand after the Essex deployed helicopters to Thailand for
aid operations.
