International aid organizations get go ahead to deliver aid

by Solomon

Tuesday, 06 May 2008 00:00

New Delhi - International aid agencies said today they have been given the green light to distribute food and supplies to cyclone-stricken areas in Burma. But they are still waiting for permission to send in foreign disaster-relief experts. Rice, water purification tablets, biscuits, plastic sheets and medical supplies are among the goods that agencies will hand out to survivors of Cyclone Nargis, the worst natural disaster to strike Burma in recent history. Sources in the field said the death toll has risen to over 50,000 while the Burmese state-run media said today that 22,000 people were killed and 41,000 are still missing. Tens of thousands are homeless and more than 2 million may have been affected by the cyclone, according to international relief group World Vision. United National Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement Monday that "lack of communications has made it difficult to ascertain the extent of the casualties and damage," and that the increase in casualties made him "very much alarmed." World Vision and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have already begun distributing supplies in the Irrawaddy Delta region. Other aid groups said they would begin their effort shortly. "As soon as we can," said WFP spokesman Paul Risley from Bangkok. Food, including high-energy biscuits, would be the first priority, Risley said, and would be part of a 30-ton supply already stored in a Rangoon warehouse. "The government has indicated they will accept international assistance and the United Nations is preparing to fly in disaster-relief equipment and food that will be needed by the people in affected areas," Risley said. International aid groups have faced many restrictions working in Burma in the past, and it wasn't clear Tuesday what obstacles they would face this time from the country's military junta. Even without restrictions, though, the logistics will be daunting, as aid groups must deal with poor roads, damaged bridges and debris. James East, spokesman for World Vision, said the agency would like to take chain saws "so they can cut the trees." He said heavy-lifting equipment also will be needed. On Sunday, the International Red Cross earmarked US $190,000 for the relief effort but is prepared to donate more. Matt Cochrane, media officer for the Red Cross office in Geneva, said, "The situation is really much unfolding. We got from our regional mission field reports that in some villages from the Irrawaddy Delta, 95 percent of houses have been destroyed and more than a million people are affected in this disaster." The International Organisation for Migration said in a statement: "More or less all landlines are down and it's extremely difficult to get information from cyclone-affected areas. But from the reports we are getting, entire villages have been flattened and the final death toll may be huge." The United States is still waiting for permission from the government to distribute humanitarian aid totaling $250,000, said a spokesperson from the US Embassy in Thailand. Other aid agencies are also waiting for visas to fly in relief experts. "We will try to, after permission from the government, bring in additional United Nations staff," said Risley of the WFP. "I hope they will agree." East, the spokesman for World Vision, said the agency is also hoping to bring in more staff from outside Burma. "We have been working there so many years, and we have some 580 local staff and three international staff in there [already]," he said. The agency has arranged to spend US$3 million dollars over the next 30 days. The Red Cross said has experts standing by in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur waiting to fly in, according to Cochrane. "But also we hope to got tens of thousands of volunteer workers around the country through the Burma Red Cross," he said. < Prev   Next >