New Delhi - More than two weeks after the killer Cyclone Nargis lashed Burma's Irrawaddy delta and Rangoon division, aid agencies said relief materials are trickling in but cannot reach the worst hit areas.
"There are still many people who have not received basic shelter and clean water they need," Craig Strathern the spokesman of the International Committee of the Red Cross-Burma told Mizzima.
While aid continues to arrive in Burma, lack of proper infrastructure, communication network, and the junta's restrictions have delayed the aid distribution process.
In several areas, bridges have collapsed rendering transportation impossible. It adds to slowing down operations by aid agencies in the Irrawaddy delta, which is the worst hit.
The ICRC said it has sent in three aircrafts with aid including emergency shelter tarpaulin, roofs, jerry can for storing and carrying water, blankets, mosquito nets and medicines, while the International Federation of the Red Cross has sent in about 17 flights so far.
The United Nations has estimated that over 2.5 million people are affected by the cyclone, while the death toll could go over 100,000. But the government has put the death toll at over 70,000 people.
Strathern said one of the main problems they are facing is the restrictions imposed by the Burmese government on foreign aid workers.
"It is impossible for me to visit those [Irrawaddy Delta] areas, so I can only rely on the reports coming from the Myanmar [Burma] Red Cross society," Strathern said.
However, the ICRC not withstanding the difficulties has been working closely with its national affiliate - the Myanmar Red Cross Society. The ICRC said it plans to reach at least 100,000 families.
Strathern said the ICRC's objective is to send the aid that arrives in the country to areas where aid has not reached.
"Getting essential goods to the right people, who still have not received it is our priority," said Strathern, adding, "The goods coming on these flights are being distributed immediately on the field for the operations to continue."
Strathern said the Myanmar Red Cross Society has about 500 volunteers in the Irrawaddy delta, to help in the aid distribution process.
The World Food Programme said it plans to reach aid supplies to 350,000 out of the estimated 750,000 survivors who need urgent support. So far the group has managed to provide initial help to 250,000 people.
"We have made progress but still one third of the people we believe are in need of assistance," Marcus Prior, spokesman of World Food Programme in Bangkok said.
"We still have a lot to do because we know well there are many people who have not received any assistance yet," he added.
He said the Burmese government has so far allowed 17 WFP international staff members to go into the country but they are largely held back in Rangoon, the former Burmese capital. Currently, 24 of the WFP local staff members are working in the delta region.
"We planned to send in more staff members to the area," Prior said, "We have both 8,500 tons of rice and 1,050 tons of beans over the last few days but the main challenge is now to move the food as quickly as we can to the Irrawaddy delta," he added.
In what may seem as a sign of progress, the Burmese regime has allowed the UN humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes into the country on Sunday, on the same day when Burma's military supremo Than Shwe visited the cyclone affected areas in Rangoon division for the first time.
