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Myanmar

NGOs concerned over end of UN cyclone aid flights to Myanmar

Myanmar, Jul 18, 2008 - The UN announced this week that it will end aid flights from Thailand to cyclone-hit Myanmar (Burma) on August 10, leaving relief agencies worried that the pace of aid delivery to the hard-hit Irrawaddy Delta region will slow considerably. UN World Food Program spokesperson Paul Risley said Friday (July 18) that the decision to end the flights marks a routine step as relief operations shift to reconstruction efforts, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Tropical Cyclone Nargis killed at least 84,500 people and left another almost 54,000 unaccounted for when it struck Myanmar on May 2, prompting a major international response as relief agencies struggled against tough terrain and an initially hesitant military government to deliver vital aid to the 2.4 million people who were severely affected by the storm. Although it took more than a month for them to become operational, the WFP secured 10 helicopters it has been using to transport aid from the main staging area in Thailand to Myanmar's main city, Yangon (Rangoon), for distribution. While five of the helicopters have been phased out of operations, the remaining five will leave by August 10, according to the AP. But key aid agencies warn that the lack of helicopters will dramatically slow aid delivery because cargo will have to be transported by sea or land. 'We're already dealing with a load that we didn't have enough helicopters for, so now the pressure will be compounded even more,' the AP quoted World Vision emergency coordination specialist Ashley Clements as saying. The UN says many survivors still do not have adequate food or water and that the cyclone wiped out about 42 percent of Myanmar's food stocks. On Thursday (July 17), the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) appealed for US$33.5 million to help agriculturalists in the delta whose livelihoods have been wiped out by the storm. The money will be used to help the 75 percent of farmers in the rice-bowl delta region who urgently need seeds, fertilizer, draught animals, water pumps and other equipment. It will also assist fishermen and provide food to those farming families unable to meet their needs. Most experts consider the end of July the deadline for the planting of Myanmar's main rice crop, which is harvested in November. An estimated 63 percent of paddy land in cyclone-affected areas was submerged, with up to 85 percent of seed stocks destroyed, FAO and the government have said. Meanwhile, John Holmes, head of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said Wednesday (July 16) that he plans to visit Myanmar for three days next week to assess the progress of relief work. He will travel to Yangon after attending the release of the UN, government and Association of Southeast Asian Nations' Post-Nargis Joint Assessment report in Singapore on Monday (July 21), the UN reported.