Myanmar accused of hoarding aid

  • 14/05/2008

  • Times Of India (New Delhi)

Yangon: The United Nations said on Tuesday that only a tiny portion of international aid needed for Myanmar's cyclone victims is making it into the country, amid reports that the military regime is hoarding good-quality foreign aid for itself and doling out rotten food. The country's isolated military regime has agreed to accept relief shipments from the UN and foreign countries, but has largely refused entry to aidworkers who might distribute the aid. Two US planes have already delivered aid to the country, and, in an apparent broadening of the initial agreement, the government seemed willing to allow future shipments. But logistical bottlenecks, poor infrastructure and the junta's restrictions have delayed the distribution of the aid, which is piling up at the airport in Yangon. "There is obviously still a lot of frustration that this aid effort hasn't picked up pace' 10 days after the cyclone hit, said Richard Horsey, the spokesman of the UN humanitarian operation in Bangkok, Thailand. Cyclone Nargis devastated the country's Irrawaddy delta on May 3, leaving about 62,000 people dead or missing, according to the government count. The UN has suggested the death toll is likely to be more than 100,000. With their homes washed away and large tracts of land under water, some 2 million survivors