Myanmar toll 'more than 10,000'

obmar · Myanmar toll 'more than 10,000'

Myanmar toll 'more than 10,000'

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/e...4-EBD3-436D-B943-7BEFA7A1FDA8.htm

Nargis knocked out power and caused widespread flooding and damage [AFP]

The Myanmar government has said that the cyclone that struck the South-East Asian nation this weekend has killed more than 10,000 people in one area alone.

State-run television said on Tuesday morning that "in Bogalay, the death toll is about 10,000", adding that about 3,000 were missing, from that area.

The toll from Cyclone Nargis, which swept through Myanmar knocking out power and causing widespread flooding, is expected to rise as reports come in from other areas, especially those difficult to get to.

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Hundreds of thousands have been left homeless.

The scale of damage appears to have prompted the government to say it will permit foreign aid agencies into the country.

But Al Jazeera's Laura Kyle, reporting from Bangkok, said aid agencies had not been given the green light by the military government despite being ready to enter and render assistance.

Nyan Win, Myanmar's foreign minister, told state television on Monday: "According to the latest information, more than 10,000 people were killed.

"Information is still being collected, and there could be more casualties."

Our correspondent reported aid agencies estimating the toll to be up to 20,000.

Nyan Win said that the country - whose military government often balks at outside intervention - would be willing to accept international aid.

Thousands of people, especially those in the shanty towns, have no shelter, power or water.

The cyclone ripped through the heart of the rice-growing regions, jeopardising supplies of the staple crop. Myanmar is already one of Asia's poorest nations.

Neighbouring Thailand has offered to send emergency food and medicine and it is likely that UN relief will be funnelled through the country.

Norway has promised €1.3m ($1.96m), channelled through the UN or Red Cross rather than the government, for the disaster.

UN 'to enter'

The UN said on Monday that the government had accepted its offer of help, with shipments of food, shelter and medical supplies being prepared immediately.

IN VIDEO

Cyclone Nargis wreaks havoc in Myanmar

Al Jazeera's John Terrett at the UN headquarters in New York said that the UN Asian disaster assessment team based in Thailand has been on alert since Saturday to enter Myanmar to offer assistance.

He reported that the team was expected to enter Myanmar on Monday evening once visas had been finalised.

Aid agencies have called on Myanmar's government to ease the country's movement restrictions so help can be given to victims of the storm.

UN disaster experts say it could be days before the full extent of the damage is known because of the government's tight controls on communications.

Call for access

The UN office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said that the government - which has indicated it will press ahead with its referendum on a new constitution on Saturday - was "having as much trouble as anyone else in getting a full overview" of the destruction.

Locals and the military have begun the
clean-up in Yangon [AFP]
Terje Skavdal, the regional head of UNOCHA, said: "Roads are not accessible and many small villages were hit and will take time to reach."

Teams of foreign aid workers were trying to assess the damage and aid needs, but their access and movements are restricted by the military.

"That is the existing situation for international staff. The way most agencies work is they use national staff who have more freedom to move," Skavdal said.

"We will have a dialogue with the government to try to get access to the people affected."

James East, of the aid agency World Vision which has nearly 500 staff in the country, told Al Jazeera: "Our staff met with some of the government from the ministry of social welfare yesterday and they told us about the eight townships that have been most impacted by Cyclone Nargis.

"They said that 90 to 95 per cent of the homes in those townships have been severely damaged.

"When we added up the numbers that comes to somewhere in the region of two million people."

'Dire situation'

Al Jazeera's correspondent, who cannot be named for security reasons, said although the clean up operation in the costal city of Yangon - the former capital and biggest city - appeared to be going quite well, the situation was dire in other areas.

Groups are concerned the government will not
be able to cope with the disaster [EPA]
Electricity and water lines were down, but the military and police were on the ground clearing trees off the road and getting water supplies to people in Yangon, she said.

But in the Irrawaddy Delta, a huge area just a few hours from Yangon, the situation was dire and appeared to be getting worse by the hour.

At least 4,000 people were presumed missing in the region, she said.

Chris Kaye, the UN's acting humanitarian co-ordinator in Yangon, confirmed that "the Irrawaddy delta was hit extremely hard not only because of the wind and rain but because of the storm surge".

"The villages there have reportedly been completely flattened.''

It is unknown to what extent the destruction caused by the cyclone will affect the holding of a referendum on May 10, on a new charter backed by the ruling generals.

But the government indicated that it would proceed as planned.

"It's only a few days left before the coming referendum and people are eager to cast their vote," the state-owned newspaper Myanma Ahlin said on Monday.

The military says the vote is the first stage in a seven-step "road map to democracy", intended to culminate in multi-party elections in 2010.

The process has been criticised by opposition groups which say the process is intended only to tighten the military's grip on power.

The Inquisitor

obmar,

What's your take on the situation?

I understand that the despots in power want to be seen as the ones bringing aid to the people. I can understand why they want to confiscate the aid coming from around the world and pretend it's coming from them. But are they holding back aid to their own people, or are they merely repackaging it into boxes that appear to be from them?

I don't know the latest on what's going on with the rural people, but I thought you might have an idea, being from a country almost next door.