14th May 2008 - Faced with major logistical challenges, the international aid agency Action Against Hunger (ACF) has reinforced its efforts in Burma to bring relief to the survivors of the Cyclone in the South of the country. ACF is transporting aid supplies via trucks and boats. In addition, planes carrying relief supplies took off from France yesterday en route to Rangoon.
Action Against Hunger's teams firstly reached the township of Bogalay, one of the worst affected areas, five days after Cyclone Nargis struck the country. One day later, ACF sent its first relief convoy to Bogolay, transporting aid supplies including 7 tonnes of rice and 4 tons of water purification equipment.
This was the first convoy of international aid to arrive in the area. Two more trucks carrying 7 tons of rice each arrived in Bogolay on 10th May despite facing major logistical challenges. "We fear that many bridges cannot bear heavy trucks," says Felix Leger, ACF's country director in Burma. "We therefore have to use alternative means of transport to get our relief supplies to the affected areas and have succeeded in renting a boat." This boat arrived in Bogolay last Monday, carrying 10 tons of rice and beans, 4 tons of water bottles, and 6 tons of tarpaulins and kitchen utensils, supplied by the United Nations and ACF.
"We hope that a second boat carrying 25 tons of aid supplies will be able to leave as soon as possible," says Felix Leger. "Yet with weather forecasts predicting heavy rains for the coming days, it is ever more crucial to explore other methods of delivering aid supplies." The rains will add to the misery of the survivors but will also provide a source of drinking water and will help clear the salt water from the paddy fields.
ACF's national staff has started distributions
Following negotiations with the local authorities, ACF was finally able to start its first aid distributions on 12th May and has already distributed 14 tons of rice and 4 tons of water purification equipment. The cargo which arrived by boat is currently being distributed and 6 more trucks have left today carrying more aid supplies. However, these supplies are merely covering minimum needs and are largely insufficient to respond to the scale of the needs of the survivors. ACF, present in Burma since 1994, has reinforced its teams with the arrival of seven expert field workers last Sunday and is increasing its capacity for assistance by recruiting 30-50 extra national staff. Only national staff is currently able to move around the delta area. A team of 21 international staff and more than 300 national staff are currently mobilised in response to Cyclone Nargis.
To make a donation to Action Against Hunger's Burma Cyclone Emergency Appeal, please call 08705 100 722 or visit www.aahuk.org.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Action Against Hunger has worked in Myanmar since 1993. Before Cyclone Nargis struck, 15 international and 300 local aid workers were already on the ground providing assistance to over 140,000 people. Programmes include water and sanitation, nutrition and food security activities.
Action Against Hunger (ACF) is an international humanitarian organisation specialised in tackling hunger and malnutrition with projects in 43 countries. Its teams are directly helping over 4 million people worldwide. www.aahuk.org
For more information, please contact:
Christine Kahmann: c.kahmann@aahuk.org / 078 0693 4524
Sophie Noonan: s.noonan@aahuk.org / 020 8293 6137
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
A Red Cross worker delivers rice to a shelter for displaced people affected by Cyclone Nargis on the edge of Yangon May 12, 2008. Between 1.2 and 1.9 million people have ...
