Eight hundred tons of rice are sitting in a Rangoon warehouse, but can't be distributed to survivors of the deadly cyclone that ravaged Burma until the military government gives permission, an aid official said Monday.
"We have 800 tons of rice stock available in Rangoon in our warehouse now, so that will be available for immediate distribution," Paul Risley, spokesperson for the World Food Programme's (WFP) Thailand office, told Mizzima.
Discussions between the Burmese government and the Burma-based WFP country director were still going on late Monday, he said. The WFP also is waiting for results from observers on the extent of the cyclone's damage and an assessment on how much aid will be needed.
"The meeting is to discuss whether international humanitarian assistance of the World Food Programme from the United Nations would be accepted by the government for the country," Risley added.
Nearly 4,000 people are believed dead and thousands more still missing, according to state media reports late Monday. The cyclone swept through the Irrawaddy Delta and the nation's commercial capital with winds blowing more than 120 mph.
The storm cut phone connections, blocked roads and ripped roofs off houses. Tens of thousands of people are believed homeless.
According to Risley, the UN and the Red Cross of Burma today started surveying six hard-hit areas.
Risley said it was a "very strong cyclone, according to the satellite news, and we are very concerned about the extent of the damage to people's houses, shelter, in the Irrawaddy division and Rangoon as well. Flood water is damaging families' food stock, so there may potentially be very critical food assistance needs from the next few days."
The Irrawaddy Delta is main rice-producing region of Burma.
Another aid group, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), is ready to move in. "We have people in Burma already working on medical project, and if the Burmese government asks for help, then we will suddenly help," said Chris Lom, the IOM's regional information officer.
The main needs are shelter and clean water, Lom said. At a meeting with the UN, the agencies discussed providing plastic sheets and a water purification system to prevent water-borne diseases.
"It's difficult to say how much will be needed," Lom said. "We just don't know because all telephone lines are down."
International humanitarian groups have found it difficult to work in Burma, which has been ruled by military dictators since 1962.
The Global Fund to fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria withdrew its presence from Burma in 2005, citing restrictions by the Burmese junta on movements of its volunteers.
Similarly, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), citing government restrictions, closed down two of its field offices in Mawlamyine of Mon State and Kyaing Tong of Eastern Shan State.
