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Myanmar's military government said on Thursday its cyclone
relief effort was moving along swiftly even as foreign powers
warned of starvation and disease among up to 2.5 million people
left destitute by the storm.
The European Union's top aid official met government ministers in
Yangon and urged them to allow in foreign aid workers and essential
equipment to prevent more deaths. But his trip did not yield any
breakthroughs.
"You know, relations between Myanmar and the international
community are difficult," Louis Michel told Reuters. "But that is
not my problem."
"The time is not for political discussion. It's time to deliver aid
to save lives."
Earlier, the reclusive generals signalled they would not
budge.
"We have already finished our first phase of emergency relief. We
are going onto the second phase, the rebuilding stage," state
television quoted Prime Minister Thein Sein as telling his Thai
counterpart this week.
Separately, the junta announced an overwhelming vote in favour of
an army-backed constitution in a referendum held after the cyclone
despite calls for a delay in the light of the disaster.
Nearly two weeks after the storm tore through the heavily populated
Irrawaddy delta rice bowl - leaving up to 128,000 people dead -
supplies of food, medicine and temporary shelter have been sent in
dribs and drabs to devastated communities.
In the delta town of Bogalay, where around 10,000 people are
thought to have died, people complained of forced labour and low
supplies of food at state-run refugee centres.
"They have to break stones at the construction sites. They are paid
K1,000 ($NZ1.32) per day but are not provided any food," said Ko
Hla Min, who lost nine family members in the storm.
Along the river in Bogalay rotting corpses remain tangled in the
scrub. Villagers fish, wash and bathe in the same river.
The United Nations has said more than half a million people may now
be sheltering in temporary settlements.
The United Nations has increased its estimate of the number of
people in urgent need of aid to 2.5 million, and called for a
high-level donors' conference to deal with the crisis.
UN spokeswoman Michel Montas told reporters on Thursday that
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's deputy, UN humanitarian affairs
chief John Holmes, would go to Myanmar in the next five or six
days, where he hoped to persuade the junta to grant UN workers more
access to the delta region.
"Inconsistent access to the flooded delta region, damage to
infrastructure and communications, and heavy rainfall pose serious
logistical challenges, so the level of assistance is still falling
far short of what is required," she said.
"Concern is deepening over the growing risk of outbreaks of
disease, especially with people migrating outwards from the
affected area in search of basic necessities," Montas said.
Myanmar state television raised its official death toll on Thursday
to 43,328, while leaving the injured and missing figures unchanged
at 1,403 injured and 27,838 respectively. Independent experts say
the figures are probably far higher.
Political pressure
Despite calls to postpone its constitutional referendum after the
disaster, the junta went ahead on May 10 in areas not seriously
affected by the cyclone.
It said on Thursday more than 92%of the ballots cast were in favour
of the charter.
The military sees the constitution as a key step in its democracy
roadmap, but critics say it will only entrench their rule because
it gives the military an automatic 25% of seats in parliament and
control of key ministries.
"This referendum was full of cheating and fraud across the
country," said Nyan Win, a spokesman for the opposition National
League for Democracy.
A vote in the cyclone-hit areas is set for May 24.
The junta has consistently resisted outside calls for faster and
more transparent moves to democracy, and since the cyclone has
rebuffed calls for a full-blown international aid
effort.
Tin roofs
The United States and other countries continued to fly aid into
Yangon on Thursday despite unconfirmed reports some supplies were
being diverted by the army.
The United States has completed 13 flights with water, food and
other supplies. The US military plans more flights for Friday but
has not received clearance from Myanmar yet.
"To the best of our ability, to date, we have not seen any US
assistance that has been diverted," Pentagon spokesman Bryan
Whitman said.
France and Britain said they were sending emergency supplies to
Myanmar to help victims of Cyclone Nargis.
In Bogalay relief materials were being held in storage waiting for
distribution and government officials sold tin-sheets for roofs at
K4,900 ($NZ6.60) apiece, far above the budget of most.
Po Aung, who survived the tidal wave that tore through his village
by clinging onto a tree, just wants to go home.
"Those dead are gone. But, we the remaining want to return to our
own place," said the 57-year old, one of 80 survivors from a
village of over 500.
"We are very sad and disappointed too. We just don't know what to do."
Anyone wishing to make a contribution to the cyclone relief effort can do so through various aid agencies. For details CLICK HERE
