No aid for some in Myanmar

2008-05-22 13:40

Kaunt Chaung, Myanmar - Villagers in parts of southern Myanmar hit hard by the devastating cyclone say they still have not received any food or aid from the government, three weeks after the storm hit.

Despite the military regime's insistence that reports of survivors who are not getting enough aid were the work of "traitors," an AFP reporter who slipped into the hard-hit southern delta found many were without help.

"The government has still not brought us anything," said Piniya Wentha, a monk in the Irrawaddy Delta village of Kaunt Chaung, who added that international aid groups had not been able to deliver aid either.

"The only food we get is from individual volunteers," the monk said. "Our seed stocks are gone, the cows and buffalo are dead and we are going to miss the next rice harvest."

The junta has all but closed off the Irrawaddy Delta to the outside world, although UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was due to fly over parts of the region on Thursday during his visit to the country.

The official New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a mouthpiece for the junta, has repeatedly rejected the accounts of desperate people who are without enough food, water, shelter or medical care since Cyclone Nargis hit on May 2-3.

Rumours created by western countries

It said earlier this week that reports of inadequate aid were "rumour storms created by certain western countries and national traitors ... who are showing negative attitude to our nation and people".

On Thursday the paper said: "Storm victims are not to trust the fabricated news made by destructive elements at home and abroad."

But in several villages visited by AFP, there was no sign that the government had reached the people. At monasteries, where many fled after the cyclone hit, monks said citizens supplied the aid they gave out.

"We have enough rice for a month because the people are providing it. But what will happen the month after that?" said Khaung Kyaw Mim Htet, a monk in the village of Denongho.

"People need tarpaulins, salt, oil, mosquito nets and medicines, especially for the kids," he said.

- AFP