Daily News - May 12, 2008 - Monday

Generals amass fortunes while country flounders

U.S. Marines, Sailors Prepare for Possible Operations in Burma

U.S. aid flight en route to Burma

Tragedy in Burma worsens

Boat carrying relief supplies sinks

Aid falls far short of Burma's urgent needs: relief groups

US envoy backs ASEAN efforts on Burma

Burma's state TV: Cyclone death toll more than 28,000

Burma referendum 'nearly 100 percent' for military

Thailand to transport foreign aid for cyclone-hit victims

ASEAN meet on Burma aid set for May 19

France seeks direct aid to Burma

Bodies litter Irrawaddy delta after cyclone, survivors focused on staying alive

IT didn't fail Burma during cyclone, people did

Internet aid flows in, but no tsunami

Canada's DART team waits to enter Burma

U.S. helicopters cause stir in Thai town on Burma border

Generals amass fortunes while country flounders

China Post, Taiwan

BANGKOK (AFP) -- A sprawling new capital dubbed the "Abode of Kings", lavish weddings for family members, palatial villas -- Burma's ruling generals appear to have few qualms about spending money.

But as the death toll from the catastrophic cyclone mounts and up to two million people wait for food, water and medicine, precious little of their resources have been devoted to the relief effort.

The regime has pledged some US$4 million to help victims of the disaster, but analysts say the top generals are sitting on immense wealth plundered from the sale of the country's vast natural resources.

"They are very rich, filthy rich. This is a military dictatorship. When you are in a position of power within the military, you can enrich yourself easily," said Thailand based Myanmar analyst Aung Naing Oo.

"They have a monopoly on a lot of things like the timber contracts, the rice, you name it -- anything they can sell overseas."

After more than 45 years of isolation and military rule, Burma is officially one of the world's poorest countries, with per capita gross domestic product (GDP) well below that of nearby Cambodia, Laos and Bangladesh.

The junta spends just 0.3 percent of GDP on health care, and 1.3 percent on education, U.N. figures show.

Yet while ordinary people grow poorer, critics say the generals have been lining their pockets with profits from the nation's vast bounty of oil, gas, tropical hardwood forests, and mines brimming with gems.

Economic sanctions from Europe and the United States were tightened after last year's deadly crackdown on demonstrations sparked by rising fuel costs, but booming Thailand, India and China continue to be big customers.

A semi-official Burmese newspaper reported last month that the country earned US$2.7 billion from gas exports in 2007, an 80 percent increase from the previous year as more wells come on line.

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U.S. Marines, Sailors Prepare for Possible Operations in Burma

Press Media Wire

Marines and Sailors with the Essex Amphibious Readiness Group are preparing for possible humanitarian assistance operations to aid cyclone-stricken Burma.

The Essex Amphibious Ready Group, along with 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, is steaming to support potential humanitarian-assistance operations in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, which struck Burma May 1 and 2. Some estimates have put the death toll at more than 100,000. So far, the Burmese military government has allowed only one U.S. shipment of relief supplies.

"This is what we are here for," Navy Chief Petty Officer Andres Carillo, of the USS Essex, said. "It's our mission to help those in need."

The amphibious readiness group includes the forward-deployed amphibious ships USS Essex, USS Juneau, USS Harpers Ferry and USS Mustin. The servicemembers are working to fill more than 14,000 5-gallon plastic water bladders with fresh water. In the event of humanitarian operations, the water could be loaded onto landing craft and helicopters to be distributed to those affected by the cyclone.

"We are capitalizing on the excess water the ship has to support the victims who need it," said Marine Capt. Ray Howard, embark officer for 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. "We want to be able have the water distributed by the quickest means possible and be on call for help so that when within reach we can send the water via helicopter and boat to the disaster areas."

The process of filling up the bladders requires a great deal of manpower and hard work, Carillo said.

Marines and sailors set up shop before filling the water bladders. The Essex's Repair Division manufactured a fresh water distribution system that mirrored a miniature farming irrigation system. Afterward, both Marines and sailors prepared large boxes to store the water bladders for transport. During the filling process, they check the pipes of the water distribution system to ensure no leakage occurs.

After each bag is filled, Marines and sailors pack the clear plastic water bladders into the boxes.

"It's great to see the Marines and sailors working together to accomplish the mission," Howard said. "It's a great show of joint-service camaraderie."

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U.S. to begin aid airlift to Burma

RANGOON (CNN) -- A U.S. military airplane with relief supplies has taken off and was scheduled to land in Burma Monday afternoon on a mission that American officials say they hope will "build trust."

U.S. Air Force personnel load relief supplies into an aircraft at the Royal Thai Navy Air Base in Utapao.

The United States said it received permission to land the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, and hopes to send in two more planes on Tuesday.

The supplies that the C-130 is carrying -- wood, buckets, nails, blankets and plastic tarps, among items to help with shelter needs -- will be handed to the military junta.

But commanding officers hope the mission will help forge a relationship that will allow the United States to send in disaster experts.

The United Nations estimates the death toll from last weekend's Cyclone Nargis ranges from 63,000 to 100,000, well above the Burmese government's estimate of about 22,000. Tens of thousands of people are missing.

The military junta has said it will accept international aid but insisted it would distribute the supplies itself.

"We're getting, starting to get reports of aid being distributed with the names of military leaders and VIPs plastered all over the aid packages," said Debbie Stothard, head of the Southeast Asian human rights group ALTSEAN-Burma.

"There's people who are very concerned now, that the reason the aid workers are being blocked is so that the military can deliver aid selectively and so that they can appropriate the aid and pretend it was from them in the first place."

An American embassy official in Thailand said the aircraft carrier, USS Essex, was also en route to Burma with supplies.

A French naval ship is also on its way toward Burma, transporting 1,500 tons of medical equipment, food and water.

Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, said French aid will go directly to the victims.

"We won't give aid to Burma's junta, even if they would accept it. We will use our own channels in the country."

Also Sunday, Australia pledged $25 million in aid to Burma.

Half the money will go to international relief agencies and non-governmental organizations. The other half will go to the United Nations, a spokesman with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

Three planes carrying 14 tons of shelter from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies landed at the Rangoon International Airport on Saturday. Two more arrived from the U.N. World Food Programme, which temporarily halted flights Friday after the government refused to let their workers pass out the supplies.

Additional flights by the WFP and other U.N. agencies in various countries were expected, said WFP's chief spokeswoman in North America, Bettina Luescher.

Meanwhile, a Red Cross boat delivering relief supplies to the hard-hit Irrawady Delta region sank Sunday when it hit debris in the river, a spokesman said.

The four relief workers on the double-decker boat were not hurt, said Eric Porterfield with International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The boat was carrying rice, water, clothing and other household items.

"It's always risky when you're trying to deliver aid in areas that have debris," he said.

As aid groups struggled to overcome obstacles slowing their distribution of supplies to cyclone victims, Burmese TV was broadcasting messages urging citizens to vote "yes" in a referendum that critics say would strengthen the military rule.

The marketing campaign showed pictures of people voting as a song played with the lyrics, "Let's go to cast vote with sincere thoughts for happy days." Similar notes were posted on ballot boxes.

"The state on the ground remains essentially the same and the so-called referendum, in which voting took place yesterday, on the reports we've had, effectively took place without incident," said Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith.

"But I again make the point as I've made consistently: Australia regards the referendum process as nothing more, nothing less than a sham. And our view would be the referendum process be deferred completely, rather than just being deferred until the 24 May in the most adversely affected areas."

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Tragedy in Burma worsens

RANGOON (Reuters) - Desperate survivors of Cyclone Nargis headed out of Burma's Irrawaddy delta in search of food, water and medicine, but aid workers said on Sunday that thousands will die if emergency supplies don't get through soon.

Buddhist temples and schools on the outskirts of the storm's trail of destruction are now makeshift refugee centers.

The U.N. humanitarian agency said in a new assessment that between 1.2 million and 1.9 million were struggling to survive in the aftermath of the storm that struck eight days ago.

"Given the gravity of the situation including the lack of food and water, some partners have reported fears for security, and violent behavior in the most severely afflicted areas," the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

It said "the number of deaths could range from 63,290 to 101,682, and 220,000 people are reported to be missing." It said "acute environmental issues" posed a threat to life and health.

In 1991 a cyclone slammed into neighboring Bangladesh, killing 143,000 people.

While Burma's reclusive military government is accepting aid from the outside world, including the United Nations, it will not let in the foreign logistics teams.

"Unless there is a massive and fast infusion of aid, experts and supplies into the hardest-hit areas, there's going to be a tragedy on an unimaginable scale," said Greg Beck of the International Rescue Committee.

RED CROSS BOAT SINKS

In the delta town of Labutta, where 80 percent of homes were destroyed, authorities were providing one cup of rice per family per day, a European Commission aid official told Reuters.

In a blow to the stumbling relief effort a boat carrying some of the first aid to survivors sank, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.

The boat was believed to have hit a submerged tree in the Irrawaddy delta. The accident highlighted the enormous logistical difficulties of delivering aid, with roads washed away and much of the delta turned to swamp.

Burma raised the death toll on Sunday to 28,458 dead and 33,416 missing from the storm on the night of May 2 and early on May 3. Most of the victims were killed by the 12-foot (3.5 meter) wall of sea-water that hit the delta along with the Category 4 cyclone's 190 kph (120 mph) winds.

International agency Oxfam said 1.5 million people are at risk from disease unless a tsunami-like aid effort is mobilized.

"In the Boxing Day tsunami 250,000 people lost their lives in the first few hours, but we did not see an outbreak of disease because the host governments and the world mobilized a massive aid effort to prevent it from happening," Oxfam's Regional Director for East Asia Sarah Ireland said in Bangkok.

"We have to do the same for the people of Myanmar."

The cyclone is one of the worst disasters since the December 26, 2004 tsunami that hit a dozen countries along the Indian Ocean.

Australia responded to a U.N. appeal for $187 million in aid by dramatically increasing its contribution to $23.4 million.

The U.N. World Food Program said on Sunday it has begun moving aid to its field headquarters in Labutta using trucks provided by its partners in Burma, including the Burma's Red Cross. The agency said its food shipments had been briefly impounded on Friday at Yangon airport.

DIRECT DELIVERY

France is set to deliver 1,500 tons of rice aid aboard the warship Mistral, which would arrive in Burma's waters in the middle of this week, the French foreign ministry said on Sunday.

France wants the aid on the Mistral to be distributed either by the ship's crew, or by the staff of NGOs already on the ground, or by U.N. teams, a foreign ministry source said.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told French newspaper Le Figaro on Saturday that France would not consider entrusting aid to the Burmese authorities.

Despite alarm bells from the international community about feeble cycle relief effort, the junta kept its focus on a weekend referendum on a new constitution, part of a "roadmap to democracy" culminating in multi-party elections in 2010.

The New Light of Myanmar, the junta's main mouthpiece, said officials were "systematically and accurately" counting the ballots, but did not say when results would be released. The balloting has been delayed by two weeks in the worst-hit areas, including Rangoon, the former capital.

There is little doubt about the final result on an army-drafted constitution after propaganda campaign by the junta urging people to vote "Yes."

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Boat carrying relief supplies sinks

RANGOON (AP) - Burma's monumental task of feeding and sheltering 1.5 million cyclone survivors suffered yet another blow Sunday when a boat laden with relief supplies — one of the first international shipments — sank on its way to the disaster zone.

The death toll jumped to more than 28,000 and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband warned that "malign neglect" by the isolated nation's military rulers was creating a "humanitarian catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions."

The junta has been sharply criticized for its handling of the May 3 disaster, from failing to provide adequate warnings about the pending storm to responding slowly to offers of help.

Though international assistance has started trickling in, the few foreign relief workers who have been allowed entry into Myanmar have been restricted to the largest city of Rangoon.

Only a handful have succeeded in getting past checkpoints into the worst-affected areas.

But in what was seen as a huge concession by the junta, the United States finally got the go-ahead to send a C-130 cargo plane packed with supplies to Rangoon on Monday, with two more air shipments scheduled to land Tuesday.

Burma's military rulers are deeply suspicious of Washington, which has long been one of the junta's biggest critics, pointing to human rights abuses and its failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.

"We hope that this is the beginning of a long line of assistance from the United States," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters in Crawford, Texas over the weekend. "They're going to need our help for a long time."

Highlighting the many challenges ahead, however, a Red Cross boat carrying rice, drinking water and other goods for more than 1,000 people sank Sunday near hard-hit Bogalay town. All four aid workers on board were safe.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies could not say how much of the cargo has been lost, but it said the food supplies were contaminated by river water.

"Apart from the delay in getting aid to people we may now have to re-evaluate how we transport that aid," said Michael Annear, the IFRC's disaster manager in Rangoon, who described the sinking as "a big blow."

Other aid was increasingly getting through, the group said, but on "nowhere near the scale required."

Heavy showers were forecast for the coming week, further complicating delivery of aid that is still barely reaching victims in the Irrawaddy delta, which was pounded by 120 mph winds and 12-foot-high storm surges from the sea.

In hard hit Laputta, hundreds of survivors crowded the floor of a monastery's open-air hall, the sound of hungry children wailing. Many people tried to sleep sitting up because of lack of space.

Pain Na Kon, a tiny nearby village of just 300, was completely obliterated. The only 12 known survivors huddled together in a tent set up in a rice field, sharing a small portion of biscuits and watery soup handed out at a local monastery.

"We don't know when they will also run out of food," said U Nyo, casting glances at his 6-year-old niece, Mien Mien, who lost both her parents in the cyclone and sat outside in the dark.

U Nyo called out to her gently, but Mien Mien stared emptily into the darkness. Overcome with emotion, U Nyo walked, teary-eyed, over to the girl and sat beside her in silence.

His wife, Saw San Myant, described in a hushed voice what had happened to Mien Mien's father.

"We hung together on a coconut tree as the tide continued to rise. Her father was separated. He tried to hang onto a pole of the hut but that was broken. The wind was too strong. She saw her father swept away by the water but we didn't see anyone else. We think they are all dead," she said.

On Sunday, Burma's state television said the death toll from Cyclone Nargis had gone up by about 5,000 to 28,458 — with another 33,416 missing — though some experts said it could be 15 times that if people do not get clean water and sanitation soon.

"A natural disaster is turning into a humanitarian catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions in significant part because of the malign neglect of the regime," said British Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

"I would be amazed if there hadn't been about 100,000 who had died already ... what's more, hundreds of thousands more are at risk," he told British Broadcasting Corp. television.

Meanwhile, aid was piling up in foreign countries, awaiting approval from the junta.

The country's main airport in Rangoon is incapable of handling more than five flights a day, when it should be taking in at least one every hour, said PLAN, a London-based children's aid group.

"Logistically, the situation looks bleak," it said in a statement. "In short, they have one congested airport, ill equipped to deal with the influx of cargo, no port, restricted fuel and no trucks.

Aid group World Vision said it has requested visas for 20 people and received approval for two, while the U.N. World Food Program had one approved out of the 16 it requested. Still, the U.N. was making some progress in aid delivery.

The junta released 38 tons of high-energy biscuits to the WFP that were confiscated on Friday and several other shipments were on their way.

"We're delighted and very encouraged by what is a very positive sign," said the group's spokesman, Marcus Prior.

But World Vision, which has a big presence in Burma, said relief material delivered so far is a tiny fraction of what is needed.

The junta says it wants to hand out all donated supplies on its own.

But many survivors have been without help for more than a week after fleeing their inundated villages to take shelter in monasteries and schools in towns. The canals and flooded roads to higher ground were littered with the bloated bodies of humans. The stench was everywhere.

"The first few we saw, we were all very shocked," said U Pinyatale, a monk living near the Pyapon River, where dozens of corpses floated in the brackish waters. "After a while, there were just too many."

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Aid falls far short of Burma's urgent needs: relief groups

RANGOON (AFP) - Aid groups said Sunday that supplies trickling into cyclone-hit Burma were far less than was needed, as the faltering relief effort suffered a new blow with the sinking of a Red Cross boat.

The boat, carrying vital supplies of drinking water, rice , and purification tablets, hit a submerged tree trunk as it travelled by river through the disaster zone. Much of the aid was lost, but no one was injured.

"Apart from the delay in getting aid to people we may now have to re-evaluate how we transport that aid," said Michael Annear, disaster manager in Rangoon for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Supplies have slowly begun to make their way into isolated Burma, but relief workers are frustrated over restrictions by the ruling junta, which has refused to allow foreign experts in to direct the recovery effort.

"Some opening-up on the part of the authorities is allowing us to get these materials to their destination," said Stephan Goetghebuer, director of operations of medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).

"But it's no more than a drip-feed, really, given a serious response is more than required. We still need more back-up aid and personnel ready to leave."

A United Nations flight from Italy carrying water purification equipment and other supplies landed in Rangoon, but three UN disaster assessment experts were still waiting for visas in Thailand.

In an indication of the tight controls the junta is maintaining, two of the three had their UN travel documents refused by Burmese officials at Rangoon airport when they tried to enter the country Thursday.

Other arrivals were a cargo plane chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross, and a Greek air force plane with a cargo of tents, food and medicine.

Greece said its foreign ministry staff will stay in Rangoon to make sure the the aid reaches those it is intended to help, and that a second military transporter is due to land on Tuesday.

Cyclone Nargis, which smashed into the rice-growing Irrawaddy Delta region in the country's south on May 3, left nearly 62,000 people dead or missing, according to a government toll.

The military government's refusal to open its doors has infuriated aid groups and foreign governments who say that unless they have free access, the toll from the disaster will rise dramatically as hunger and disease set in.

"It's not true that nothing is happening at all, but not enough is happening," said Frank Smithuis, Burma's country manager for MSF. Two MSF cargo planes carrying 75 tonnes of shelters, water-treatment equipment, first-aid supplies and food are en route from Europe and due to arrive on Monday.

French charity Medecins du Monde said Sunday that Burma's authorities had agreed to let it distribute its aid, which was arriving Monday.

The international community has spoken out in increasingly concerned tones over Rangoon's apparent sluggishness or suspicion when it comes to taking up offers of overseas and even non-governmental aid.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband accused Burma's ruling generals of "malign neglect," warning the aftermath of its cyclone was a "catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions."

And Europe's aid commissioner Louis Michel, while praising "signs of improvement" in Burma's cooperation, urged Rangoon to let more relief workers in.

"The (European) Commission is ready to give more but the funds won't be much use without professional delivery on the ground," he said.

Sarah Ireland, East Asia director for development charity Oxfam, warned that all the factors were in place for a public health crisis that could multiply diplomats' estimates of 100,000 dead by up to 15 times.

"It's a perfect storm of factors such as a lack of water, sanitation, predicted heavy rain over the next week, lack of food as well as outbreaks of disease," she told a press conference.

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US envoy backs ASEAN efforts on Burma

SINGAPORE (AFP) - The US envoy to ASEAN backed the regional bloc's efforts to convince military-ruled Burma to open its doors to humanitarian aid after a devastating cyclone.

T Scot Marciel, US envoy to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, dismissed criticism not enough was being done to get aid to the estimated 1.5 million survivors of the tragedy at grave risk, the Sunday Times reported.

"That's the way it has to work," he told the newspaper.

"In order to get assistance to people, you have to work through the government. What we have to do is work with the realities as they are," he said.

ASEAN chief Surin Pitsuwan has written to Burma's foreign minister seeking the "quick admission" of the 10-member bloc's aid for cyclone victims, amid international fury at the ruling junta's refusal to let in aid workers.

Aid groups have warned that the official toll of 60,000 dead or missing in Burma, an ASEAN member, could rise unless the neediest survivors get help immediately.

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Burma's state TV: Cyclone death toll more than 28,000

RANGOON (AP) - Burma's state television says the death toll in last week's cyclone has jumped by about 5,000 to 28,458.

It said Sunday that the number of missing now stands at 33,416.

International aid groups, however, say the death toll could eventually top 100,000 as conditions worsen.

Though international aid has started to trickle in, almost all foreign relief workers have been barred entry into the isolated nation. The junta says it wants to hand out all donated supplies on its own.

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Burma referendum 'nearly 100 percent' for military

Bangkok Post

RANGOON (DPA) - A "sham" referendum held this weekend despite the Burmese national tragedy wrought by Cyclone Nargis can expect an overwhelming "yes" vote for a new pro-military charter, according to initial counts seen by sources close to the ruling junta Sunday.

Nearly 100 per cent of the people voted in favour of the new constitution in Kokogyun township, Rangoon Division, in the referendum held Saturday, while about 90 per cent cast "yes" votes in Mandalay Division and 95 per cent in Tachileik township, Shan State, said a government source, who asked to remain anonymous.

The Burmese military rulers pushed through the referendum Saturday intended to cement their political power despite international appeals to postpone the vote in the wake of Cyclone Nargis that has killed an estimated 100,000 people.

Although the junta has postponed the vote to May 24 in 47 of the districts worst-hit by the cyclone, including much of the former capital Rangoon, it rejected international appeals to delay the controversial referendum and concentrate on providing emergency relief.

The referendum process, held under the strict control of military masters, has been call a sham by human rights activists and western democracies for being neither free nor fair.

The regime has used both intimidation and vote-buying to assure the populace votes yes, and will predictably resort to vote-rigging if too many vote no, observers said.

Many civil servants, including teachers, soldiers, police, and members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) - the military's mass organization - were required to cast their votes in advance, and most were told by their bosses to vote yes, sources said. Others were enticed to do so.

During recent weeks, the military has made clear through billboard and media campaigns that they expect the people to vote yes.

It is expected that many people will still vote no, but since criticizing the constitution in public became a crime as of last February, they are not likely to admit it.

"No" protest votes were expected to be especially high in the cyclone-affected areas, given the government's poor response to the disaster and deliberate interference with an international assistance programme, but whether they will be acknowledged in the official tallies is doubted.

Last week local newspapers and TV highlighted military men passing out emergency supplies to the people affected by the cyclone, while at the same time the junta refused to grant visas to international aid workers, slowing the disaster relief effort.

An estimated 1.5 million people were affected by Cyclone Nargis, which crashed in to the central coastal region on May 2 and 3, leaving 23,335 dead and 37,019 missing, according to the latest official figures. Others estimate the death toll could reach 100,000.

The referendum was on a new constitution, drafted by a military-appointed forum, which will essentially allow the military control over future elected governments through a system of appointees in both the upper and lower legislative houses.

Burma has been under military rule for the past 46 years. The current junta has promised a general election in 2010, but given its constitutional control over both houses, prospects for true democracy remain dim.

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Thailand to transport foreign aid for cyclone-hit victims

BANGKOK, May 12 (Asia Pulse) - Admitting the reluctance of Burma's military government to allow foreign aid workers or experts to enter the secretive country to assist the victims Cyclone Nargis, Thai Foreign Minister, Noppadon Pattama said Sunday that Thailand is willing to help transport foreign relief supplies for the stricken country.

Mr. Noppadon said he had informed Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej that he might travel to Rangon Tuesday with an objective to more freely provide assistance to Burmese victims and to also ask Burma's authorities to issue visas or allowing foreign experts to enter the country.

The request will be made on behalf of those countries wishing to offer humanitarian aid to Burmese people after their country was battered by Cyclone Nargis last weekend.

As Thailand is friendly to Burma, it does not want to pressure the neighbouring country much because Burma would allow only donated necessities or cash to enter the country, said Mr. Noppadon.

However, foreign nations wishing to help Burmese people could leave aid with the Thai government which will help transport it, he said.

Mr. Noppadon said foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will meet in Singapore on May 19 and discuss ways to help Burma's cyclone victims.

Singapore currently holds the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN.

Nearly two million people are estimated to have lost their homes after Cyclone Nargis hit Burma.

Most damages were reported in the Irrawaddy delta and parts of the former capital Rangoon.

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ASEAN meet on Burma aid set for May 19

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand confirmed on Monday foreign ministers from 10 Southeast Asian nations would meet in Singapore next Monday to discuss ways to help cyclone-stricken Burma. Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said the ministers would "discuss ways and means to help Myanmar at this one-day meeting" in Singapore, the current chair of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The meeting comes after Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo wrote to his Burmese counterpart Nyan Win last Friday, a Singapore Foreign Ministry statement.

As many as 100,000 people are feared to have died in the cyclone that hit Burma eight days ago.

The U.N. humanitarian agency said in a new assessment that between 1.2 million and 1.9 million people were struggling to survive in the aftermath of the storm.

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France seeks direct aid to Burma

PRESS TV, Iran

France prefers to directly issue aid to cyclone victims in Burma but is willing to work with the authorities if there is supervision.

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Sunday that his country would cooperate with the authorities if volunteers were allowed to supervise.

This is while Burma's military government is accepting aid from the outside world, including the UN but it won't allow in foreign logistics teams who are needed in order to transport aid into the Irrawaddy delta which is the area worst hit by Cyclone Nargis, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, France has been loading a naval ship anchored in India, the Mistral, with 1,500 tons of rice and medical supplies. Kouchner said that he hoped that the Mistral would arrive in Burma by Thursday and be allowed to distribute the aid.

It appears that Kouchner has softened his position since an interview published on Saturday in which he said it was "out of the question for us to provide aid directly to the junta, even if it accepts it." When asked on France Inter radio whether he would consider handing over the supplies to Burmese authorities, he said, "That's not our intention, unless the distribution was supervised by a few volunteers. I have the feeling, though it's an extremely tenuous feeling, that the Burmese authorities are moving towards that kind of solution".

Elsewhere, the French charity Medecins du Monde said in a statement that it had received permission to hand out its own aid to Burma adding that it had received four visas for foreign volunteers. The charity said that a team of disaster management specialists had already arrived in Rangoon while a plane carrying 22 tons of supplies and a logistics expert was on its way.

France suggested appealing to a scarcely used "responsibility to protect" concept to deliver aid to Myanmar without government approval but unfortunately its efforts to have the UN Security Council adopt its idea was rejected on Wednesday by China, Vietnam, South Africa and Russia.

About 100,000 people are feared to have died in the cyclone that hit Burma eight days ago. In a new assessment, the UN humanitarian agency said that between 1.2 -1.9 million people were struggling to survive the after effects of the cyclone.

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Bodies litter Irrawaddy delta after cyclone, survivors focused on staying alive

ON THE PYAPON RIVER (AP) - As the bloated bodies rise and fall with the current, women scrub clothes along the river bank, villagers bathe to cool themselves and a lone child sits on a dock staring aimlessly into the water.

Those unable to escape the catastrophic cyclone that pounded Myanmar's rice-growing Irrawaddy delta a week ago continue to litter the flooded landscape. But with little aid still getting through to desperate survivors, the dead have largely been abandoned _ left to decay where the brackish waters carried them or waiting to be pulled out to sea by the rising tides.

"The first few we saw, we were all very shocked," said U Pinyatale, a monk from the area who has prayed for the dead. "After a while, there were just too many.

More than 50 bodies can be spotted in just three hours on the river. Many have turned white as they float entwined in mangrove trees, where they remain lodged. The smell of dead fish permeates the humid air as dozens of small boats ferrying roofing supplies and rice navigate around the corpses, but no one seems to notice.

"In some areas there are 5,000 bodies in waterways, stuck in fields and in the trees," said Craig Strathern, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Rangoon, Burma's biggest city. "We've got a combination of seriously traumatized people themselves who are concentrating on their basic survival.

Cyclone Nargis left more than 60,000 people dead or missing. The U.N. estimates at least 1.5 million have been severely affected in the military-run country, with many still struggling to receive rations of food and clean water.

Body removal remains difficult because some of the worst-hit areas are located in remote villages crisscrossed by a spider web of rivers and canals. Another big setback revolves around the ruling junta's refusal to open the door to international aid workers, forcing agencies operating in Burma to rely on their limited local staff members for all relief work.

The situation differs greatly from the 2004 Asian tsunami, which killed nearly 230,000 people. In worst-hit Banda Aceh, Indonesia, bodies were a top priority early on, driven largely by Muslim tradition that calls for burying the dead within the first day. Corpses were dumped in mass graves as big as football fields, with aid workers, soldiers and volunteers all working together.

During the same crisis in Phuket, Thailand, emphasis was also placed on ensuring bodies were taken to refrigerated areas where they were kept for identification.

"What's often overlooked is the fact that people do want to find the dead and give them a proper burial, and it's important," said Eric Stover, lead author of a critical report published last year about Burma's broken health system. "What happens with those relatives or those who survive, they can also go into this kind of limbo world thinking their (family members) are dead but not actually knowing until they have the funeral.

Bodies are cremated or buried in different parts of Burma. It is essential for Buddhist monks to chant and pray for the dead on the first day. The funeral typically occurs on day three, and on the seventh day a religious ceremony is held where prayers and chants continue to ensure the soul moves on. Otherwise, wandering ghosts can remain.

The monk, Pinyatale, said some people simply want the bodies to be sucked out to sea because they believe if someone touches them, that person will be cursed with bad luck and haunted by the unsettled spirit.

"People are scared. Some people hear voices from the river at night: 'Help me! Help me!"' he said. "But when people walk to the river, there is nothing there.

The carcasses of dead livestock, such as buffalos, also have not been removed from areas in the low-lying delta where entire villages were leveled by the May 3 storm, which packed 120-mile (190-kilometer) per hour winds and 12-foot (4-meter) -high storm surges from the sea.

UNICEF has distributed 30,000 masks and gloves to help workers clear the dead amid fears that people can get sick from handling the corpses. However, both UNICEF and the World Health Organization have stressed that bodies left after natural disasters do not spread disease. Leftover fecal matter can contaminate drinking water, but purification should eliminate any risk.

Stover, from the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, said the military is often best at helping identify bodies in massive natural disasters because they are trained to do so for war. But he said his contacts who have visited the worst-hit areas say they have seen no soldiers helping to remove corpses.

"There may be cases where neighbors came back and because of the tidal surge, the bodies were dispersed," he said. "It's going to be difficult. That's the real crisis here.

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IT didn't fail Burma during cyclone, people did

CIO Asia, Singapore

JAKARTA, 9 MAY 2008 - The growing disaster in Burma caused by Cyclone Nargis could have been at least party avoided had people living in the path of the storm been warned, the head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said Thursday.

The storm warning systems and cyclone watch centers in place were all up and running, but the cyclone's path to Burma across the Bay of Bengal on the Indian Ocean rim has been left out of the storm warning system, said Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN in a speech in Jakarta on Thursday.

Now, an estimated 100,000 people lay dead in the country and over a million people are homeless.

It's the second time people have failed to avert disaster in Asia despite having the right technology in the right place, he said. The first time was the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. People in Hawaii knew a tsunami was coming ashore, but they did not know who to call, he said.

"In spite of the technology that we have, in spite of the power that we have, in spite of the network that we have, we still lose lives needlessly," he said.

"So it is more than just the power of technology, it is more than just the transformation of society through technology, it is certainly a shift in paradigm here in the minds of our people and particularly our leaders. Because if you don't have that shift, millions and billions of dollars worth of technology cannot deliver effective, timely relief to people when they need it most, because we have reservations about opening up our borders for cooperation, because we have hesitation about cooperating with the outside world, because we have mistrust of the outside world."

ASEAN and other groups and countries have been working with Burma to allow aid to flow into the country, but the military leadership of the nation has been slow to respond.

Cyclone Nargis hit Irrawaddy Delta region overnight last Friday. The initial devastation has been exacerbated by poor communication between government officials in the country and abroad, but emergency flights of food and medicine are getting through.

The fear now is that a lack of potable drinking water, and diseases such as dengue fever and malaria, could cause further problems in the country, according to the World Health Organization.

Countries around Asia have sent supplies or money to aid Burma. Indonesia, for example, sent three planes full of food, medicines and medical personnel to Burma on Thursday, in addition to pledging US$1 million in additional aid.

Microsoft has a team waiting for permission to enter Burma to help people find each other after the storm using refugee software developed in Kosovo and used throughout Asia after the 2004 tsunami. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has already pledged $3 million to aid efforts in the country, Bill Gates said in a speech in Jakarta on Friday.

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Internet aid flows in, but no tsunami

BANGKOK (Reuters) - International appeals for the 1.5 million survivors of Burma's Cyclone Nargis are cranking into top gear, although the amount of cash being pulled in is tiny compared to the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

With the Internet now a key medium for attracting donations, search engine Google gave the funding drive a massive boost by posting a direct appeal on its home page, one of the most viewed sites on the web with several hundred million hits a day.

The site clicks straight through to a donations page for Direct Relief International, a U.S. charity specialising in medical aid to victims of disasters and war, and UNICEF, the United Nations childrens agency.

A greyed-in "$100" in the page's donation boxes serves as a subtle nudge to those wanting to help victims of the worst cyclone to hit Asia since 1991, when 143,000 people were killed in neighbouring Bangladesh.

Google said it would match private donations up to a maximum of $1 million.

UNICEF is appealing for $25.5 million as part of an overall $187 million emergency aid package sought by the United Nations, and had already raised $7.8 million by Friday, Bangkok spokeswoman Shantha Bloemen said.

"Obviously, the Internet has made it much easier for people to respond quickly," she said. "They can click a few buttons online and contribute. The easier it is for people to give money, the more likely it is they will."

"YOUR MONEY'S SAFE"

The power of the Internet in appeals is also in its speed, cutting down crucial days in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, when flying in emergency relief such as food, water and medicines can save thousands of lives.

However, the amount of cash generated for the Burma disaster, which is feared to have killed 100,000 people, is a fraction of the tsunami, whose final death toll was 230,000 -- more than half of them in Indonesia.

One week after the Dec. 26, 2004 undersea quake, the American Red Cross had raised $79 million, and Oxfam America more than $12 million, even though its website crashed under the unprecedented flood of donations.

Hollywood actress Sandra Bullock had started a celebrity aid push with $1 million of her own cash, and foreign governments had pledged $2 billion, with the United States alone promising $350 million.

Yet in the case of Burma, whose military government Washington labels an "outpost of tyranny", total foreign government and relief agency aid promises were just $77 million.

The U.S. had pledged $3.25 million.

Many aid workers fear the generals' infamy -- especially after pictures of their bloody crackdown on monks and democracy protesters were beamed around the world last year -- could be preventing would-be donors from making the pledge.

The junta has also made it clear it will be the main distributor of foreign aid, and even briefly impounded two shipments of U.N. biscuits at Rangoon airport.

However, major aid agencies such as Save the Children, Medecins Sans Frontiers and the Red Cross, which already had operations in Myanmar before the May 2 cyclone, say they are able to control delivery of their own aid.

The anti-junta Burma Campaign UK urged people and governments not to be put off by reports of the army appropriating aid -- and in some cases writing their names on it to claim the credit.

"If you give to British charities, your money is safe," the London-based group said.

"Don't punish ordinary people for what the generals are doing. If you don't donate, it will be a triple whammy for cyclone victims. First they suffer from the dictatorship, second the cyclone, and then no aid."

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Canada's DART team waits to enter Burma

CTV British Columbia, Canada

Canadian officials hoped to convince Burma's military rulers to accept humanitarian aid from the Disaster Assistance Response Team on Sunday, as the death toll from a massive cyclone surpassed 28,000.

Members of the Canadian Forces' DART are waiting for approval in neighbouring Thailand. The team can provide clean drinking water and medical assistance to survivors, but Burma's junta has imposed restrictions on who can enter the country.

Meanwhile, Burma's state television is now reporting that the death toll from Cyclone Nardis has reached 28,458, with another 33,416 missing.

Sunday's newscast did not elaborate on the rising numbers, except to say that another 1,403 people had been injured in the May 2 storm.

Joe Lowry, a Red Cross worker in Rangoon, Burma told CTV Newsnet on Sunday that his organization had four planeloads of supplies land in Burma, with six more coming in the next few days.

The current shipments are emergency shelter materials, which are much needed, he said.

"Today, unfortunately we had a bit of a tragedy ourselves," Lowry said.

A cargo boat carrying relief supplies into the Irrawaddy delta struck a submerged tree trunk and sank, he said.

No crew members died, but supplies for 1,000 people were lost, he said.

Right now, "time is our biggest enemy," he said, noting that more rain is reportedly on the way.

Red Cross volunteers within Burma are working from dawn until dusk, "but the needs are huge, and it's never enough," he said.

More could die

The United Nations has said about two million of Burma's nearly 49 million citizens have been severely affected by the cyclone.

The British aid group Oxfam warned Sunday that up to 1.5 million people would be at risk of dying if they don't get clean water and sanitation soon.

Sarah Ireland, the group's regional chief, told reporters in Bangkok, Thailand that the cyclone's toll could hit 100,000 -- a figure put forward by other aid groups and a top U.S. diplomat in Burma.

"There are all the factors for a public health catastrophe which could multiply that death toll by up to 15 times," she said.

Another Oxfam official said that worst-case scenario is preventable if people get help.

Burma's military government has refused to let in foreign disaster experts, insisting it is capable of distributing the aid itself.

One Burmese human rights campaigner said the Burmese generals are manipulating aid and delivering it selectively. Reports on Saturday indicated the names of generals were slapped on boxes and bags, with some handing it out personally.

"Even in Rangoon area, which is reachable by the regime, people are complaining they are not getting aid. What they are getting is rotting rice," Debbie Stothard, head of ALTSEAN-Burma, told Associated Press Television News in Bangkok.

The junta also came under criticism for pushing ahead with a constitutional referendum on Saturday, one that critics say would simply cement military power in a country where the military has ruled since 1962.

The UN said -- in an internal report seen by The Associated Press -- that despite everything, some progress is being made.

Roads are being cleared, and piped water has been partially restored in Rangoon, Burma's largest city.

"What is critical at the moment is water sources,'' said Oxfam's Ireland.

"We understand a lot of water sources are contaminated. Ponds are full of dead bodies. Something as basic as a bucket is in scarce supply. If people don't have water that is clean and safe, that is very difficult," she said.

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U.S. helicopters cause stir in Thai town on Burma border

Bangkok Post

Mae Sot - In this border town known as "Little Burma," thousands of Burmese exiles and refugees were excited when they saw a US helicopter flying above them on Saturday, within view of Burmese soldiers staging a referendum across the Moei River.

"All the Burmese looked up at the sky in hope," said Myo Khin, a Burmese trader who just found out from his sister that their relatives were lost in their hometown of Lapputa in the Irrawaddy delta. "Only America and the foreign countries can save Burma now."

Local excitement grew on Sunday as another US helicopter flew into Mae Sot's tiny airport, which stopped serving commercial flights last year. The airstrip is just 1.5 miles from the Friendship Bridge to the Burmese town of Myawaddy.

Their sighting jibes with reports that the US has moved ships and aircraft into position to support a humanitarian mission in the country.

A trip Sunday afternoon to the airport found eight US crewmen in uniforms pumping fuel from one US helicopter, inscribed with "24 Marines" on the body and "EP" on the tail, to another US helicopter, labeled "25 Marines."

"They were here on a survey of the area, and they ran out of gas," explained a Thai airport official in the lobby. "One crew had to wait here overnight for another helicopter to come today and bring them gas."

The official, and a uniformed Thai Air Force officer, said the choppers came unannounced from U-Tapao airbase in Chonburi Province on Thailand's east coast, on the other side of the country from Mae Sot. "They have been on joint military exercises called Cobra Gold with the Thai Air Force."

No security officers manned the airport gates Sunday. "We have never hosted American soldiers here before," said the official, as airport staff posed for photos with the airmen. "We didn't know what to do with them."

Local residents and foreign aid workers said they saw the clean-cut US soldiers out of uniform wandering downtown on Saturday night with a Thai Air Force guide. "They introduced themselves as members of the US Air Force," said a Western volunteer worker. "They said they were looking for a place to stay."

Many Burmese in Mae Sot said the airmen would be welcomed. "Everybody in Burma requests America 'Come on! Come on,' " said Mr. Khin. "America is very famous. They control the world. Burma is very small. I want to talk to Mr. George Bush. What are you doing? United Nations, what are you doing? We have no food, no water. This is the worst government in the world. Same as Saddam Hussein. Why you cannot help us?"

Mae Sot would be a logical jumping off point for US helicopters going into the Burmese delta. Pilots could fly through the same valley as the Asian Friendship Highway, which runs north to Rangoon.

Due to resistance by the Burmese junta, the only aid the US has provided directly to the country is relief supplies flown by a US military plane. Helicopters were also being used to provide "logistical support" for the operation. Members of the US Marine Corps' 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, based in Japan, were working with US Air Force and Navy personnel to prepare relief. The USS Essex, based in the Gulf of Thailand, was serving as a lift point to ferry supplies ultimately intended for Burma. For now, military officials say military airplanes will probably be used for whatever direct US aid comes next. Helicopters, which are naturally more effective for getting to more remote areas, may follow.

"If we see anything, the next step is to be more C-130 flights going in," says Maj. Stewart Upton, a spokesman at the Pentagon. "We continue to prepare for such approval to get those helicopter flights in there, but so far, nothing yet."

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