Published in Washington, D.C.
May 12, 2008
U.S. relief ready for delivery
Aid workers denied visas after cyclone
By Richard S. Ehrlich
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The U.S. prepared its first airlift of relief supplies to Burma's cyclone victims, but the flight scheduled to land today will not include American disaster specialists because they were denied visas.
Cyclone Nargis and its aftermath killed more than 28,000 people, according to official Burmese estimates, but U.S. and other foreign officials fear that the final toll will climb well above 100,000.
"The DART team does not have their visas, so the flight is just going to be aid [cargo]," a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said last night, referring to an American Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART).
Burma's generals have demanded all incoming relief supplies be delivered to the international airport in Rangoon and turned over to Burmese troops for distribution.
Burma's military rulers are deeply suspicious of Washington, which has long been one of the junta's biggest critics.
"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, according to the Associated Press.
"They're going to need our help for a long time."
A U.S. C-130 cargo plane was being loaded yesterday at Thailand's U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Air Base and was expected to lift off around mid-day Bangkok time today, said the U.S. spokeswoman, who asked to remain anonymous because she was not authorized to speak for attribution.
Most of the dead, dying, diseased and hungry survivors were trapped in devastated areas southwest of Rangoon, on the exposed, sea-level, rice-growing Irrawaddy River delta.
Burma's troops have cleared some roads from Rangoon to the delta, but several bridges were destroyed, limiting overland travel.
Local aid workers and survivors were forced yesterday to continue using rickety boats to reach towns and villages cut off by floods after the cyclone hit May 3.
A double-decker International Red Cross boat, carrying rice and drinking water for 1,000 cyclone victims near the delta town of Mawlamyinegyun, sank yesterday.
The four relief workers on board were safe, the AP reported in a dispatch from Rangoon.
Burma, also known as Myanmar, has allowed several planes to land with emergency goods but has not distributed visas to U.S., U.N. or private aid officials waiting in Bangkok to deliver aid.
Countries that delivered relief goods to Burma's military at the airport include Thailand, India, China, Japan, Laos, Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia and Italy.
Today's U.S. flight was being packed with relief goods by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which had deployed 10 DART specialists in response to the cyclone.
The DART officials wanted visas so they could assess what "non-food relief items" are available in the impoverished Southeast Asian country and what supplies would have to be flown in from U.S. relief supplies stockpiled in the United States, Italy and Dubai, DART leader William S. Berger said in an interview.
For this disaster, which includes massive floods and destroyed homes, items such as "plastic sheeting for shelter, plastic jerry cans for water, blankets, tents" and other basic survival goods are a priority," said Mr. Berger, 58, who is based in Bangkok.
After the Bay of Bengal cyclone hit Burma's southern coast, USAID provided an immediate $250,000 for emergency relief assistance.
"That money was given to UNICEF, UNHCR and the World Food Program," Mr. Berger said, referring to United Nations organizations that are also providing assistance.
USAID gave an additional $1 million to the American Red Cross, said Mr. Berger, who led disaster-relief teams in the 2004 tsunami in South Asia.
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Richard S. Ehrlich's Asia news, non-fiction book titled, "Hello My Big Big Honey!" plus hundreds of photographs are available at his website http://www.oocities.org/asia_correspondent