Burma's junta opens door to foreign aid workers

John Heilprin
Associated Press

NAYPYITAW, BURMA–The country's ruling junta says it will let foreign aid workers and commercial ships help survivors in the cyclone-ravaged Irrawaddy delta but refused to accept aid from U.S., French and British military ships.

The ships, off the coast for more than a week, offer a huge potential boost to the aid effort because they can send helicopters to the hardest-to-reach spots.

The military regime told UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon yesterday that all aid workers would be let into the country as long as it was clear what they were doing and how long they would remain.

The Irrawaddy delta, Burma's key rice-producing region, was decimated by Cyclone Nargis, but the junta has kept the area virtually off-limits to foreign aid workers.

An estimated 2.5 million people remain threatened by disease, hunger and exposure because of the loss of their homes.

The UN says only about 25 per cent of survivors have received any kind of aid.

Official estimates put the death toll at about 78,000, with another 56,000 missing. Burma, also known as Myanmar, has estimated the economic damage at about $11 billion from the May 2-3 storm.

Under intense international pressure Senior Gen. Than Shwe said he would allow in aid workers "regardless of nationality," Ban said.

Than Shwe refused to relent on the decision against allowing the use of the military ships, however.

According to Ban, the junta leader "agreed that international aid could be delivered to Myanmar via civilian ships and small boats."

The U.S., Britain and France all have warships off Burma's coast ready to help. But Burma's junta is nervous about any landings because it fears invasion or political interference.

Pentagon spokesperson Bryan Whitman said yesterday that 50 U.S. C-130 transport plane flights have been permitted into Rangoon, also known as Yangon, carrying more than 480 tonnes of relief supplies. But they have not been allowed to fly directly to the delta.

Canada announced an initial donation of up to $2 million on May 8. Yesterday, International Co-Operation Minister Beverley Oda announced an additional contribution of up to $12 million.

"We are working with the United Nations and other trusted Canadian and international organizations to provide supplementary relief efforts such as food distribution and critical shelter, health and nutrition, and water and sanitation initiatives," Oda said.

Nearly three weeks after the storm, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization warned yesterday hundreds of thousands of people have insufficient food, and prices for rice, cooking oil and other basics have doubled across the land