News Update -May (16)

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Foreign relief supplies still arriving in Myanmar, but kept waiting

Yangon - Myanmar is using helicopters, cars and trucks and small boats to transport relief supplies donated by foreign countries to the cyclone-ravaged Irrwaddy delta region, state-run newspapers in Yangon reported Saturday. Meanwhile there was no official word if authorities would allow a French warship with 1,500 tons of relief supplies, including medicine and food, waiting in international waters off the coast, to deliver the supplies.

--Read More: here

Burma Takes Diplomats on Tour of Cyclone-Ravaged Areas

Diplomats went on a controlled tour of Burma's storm-ravaged Irrawaddy delta Saturday following international complaints the ruling military is blocking aid groups from distributing relief supplies.

--Read More: here

Military blocks access to Myanmar's worst hit areas

YANGON, Myanmar - Inside cyclone-devastated Myanmar the signs are clear the country's military regime doesn't want the world to know what's happening.

The military has set up road blocks at nearly every road leading into areas hit hardest by cyclone Nargis on May 3 - particularly the south where homes and crops in an area bigger than New Brunswick have been decimated.

For foreign-aid workers the real challenge is that they still don't know how bad the situation is. The government refuses to allow anyone but Burmese nationals into the worst areas.

--Read More: here

French Navy Ship Nears Burma, Still Awaiting Permission to Land 1,500 Tons of Aid

RANGOON, Burma — A French navy ship approached Burma's, also known as Myanmar, cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta Saturday, but was still awaiting permission from the ruling military regime to dock and unload 1,500 tons of aid.
--Read More: here

No Time to Lose: Ban to General Assembly

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday told the UN General Assembly there is "no time to lose" in Burma because the country faces an imminent outbreak of infectious diseases because of the slow relief and rescue operation in the Irrawaddy Delta which was virtually devastated by Cyclone Nargis.

--Read More: here

Red Cross says clean water most urgent need for Myanmar cyclone victims

GENEVA — The International Red Cross says lack of clean water is threatening to become the biggest killer in cyclone-hit Myanmar in the coming days.

Spokesman Thomas Gurtner says hundreds of thousands of cyclone victims must get clean water quickly or risk falling victim to dysentery and other diseases.
Gurtner says food is also an urgent priority.But he notes that it can take weeks to die of starvation, while acute diarrhea can kill within three days.

If Humanitarian Intervention Happens, Then What?

As calls for humanitarian intervention in Burma widen and gain momentum, analysts are asking, what would the country’s armed forces do—fight or take off their uniforms?British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in London on Thursday: "We will stop at nothing in trying to pressure the regime into doing what any regime should have done long ago. And there should be nothing, nothing that stops that aid getting to the people of the country now.”

--Read More: here

Who is behind the Cyclone?

Dear All,

I believed Burma regime has secret plan around irrawaddy delta. The Cyclone is much more than natural disaster there must have some other political hidden agenda.

1) Regime close its door to irrawaddy, they did not even open for local civilians.
2) Banned cameras, camcorders
3) No foreign Aid workers are allowed. Why?

1) Their Navy based at Haing Gyi Island was destroyed. They knew Cyclone is coming but why they do not removed their Navy ships? Is there any very important project to protect that area? Is that the reason why they can not remove their ships and soldiers?

2) According to some sources, after the cyclone Chinese military officials came to see immediately the area, what do they have there? What kind of operation do they have there?

3) SPDC official said to Thai PM they deployed 4 regional based soldiers in that area, but why people get very little or no help at all from them?

4) They must have some hidden agenda that can harm the local community and as well as the international community.

Burma needs UN troops right now.

Maung Myo

Saving Burma

There is only one major road leading to Naypyidaw. Nearly three years ago, when Burma's new capital was carved out of scrubland, the country's ruling military junta gave no reason for its sudden abandonment of the bustling city of Rangoon. Then, shortly after thousands of civil servants were forced to move to an isolated construction site in the middle of nowhere, a secret government document leaked to local journalists.

--Read More: here

PM Thein Sein wrong man for handling disasters?

Gen Thein Sein, who was appointed prime minister last year, is facing his first crucial test as a leader and so far is faring badly just as he did when he was the regional commander in Kengtung, eastern Shan State, from 1996-2001, according to his critics there.

--Read More: here