Burma junta plays down aid needs
Updated
More aid is getting through in Burma it's still nowhere near enough to deal with the estimated 2-and-a-half million people who need it. The military junta continues to keep an iron-grip on who does what .. and who goes where.
Presenter: South East Asia correspondent Karen Percy
Speakers: Shantha Bloeman, UNICEF; Steve Marshall, International Labour Organisation; Amanda Pitt, UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs.
PERCY: Burma's Prime Minister, Thein Sein has reported to have said the relief phase is over and that it's now time to rebuild his country after Cyclone Nargis. But that's contrary to everything that aid agencies are telling the media. Steve Marshall is with the International Labour Organisation. He's just returned from Rangoon.
MARSHALL: I know that the Government is very concerned in terms of the rehabilitation aspects and the ongoing impacts not just on people but on the whole of the country in terms of food supply and things of that nature.
So that would not surprise me that he's trying to change that emphasis.
That does not mean that the aid issues are over by any means.
PERCY: In a briefing this morning in Bangkok, various United Nations agencies laid out what still needs to be done. The UN's relief efforts are being overseen by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The agency's spokesperson is Amanda Pitt.
PITT: Critical needs are still not being met at the level that we need, that means food, that means clean water, that means shelter and of course emergency health care. Heavy rains continue to batter those left homeless in the most affected areas which of course compounds their suffering and complicates the relief efforts.
PERCY: The agencies also say that health issues need to be addressed and quickly. Cases of cholera have been reported in some parts, though agencies say so far the levels are no worse than normal at this time of year. But there are concerns about the ability of existing health facilities to deal with any outbreak.
In some areas, half of all medical clinics have been affected. Hospitals are trying to function with tarpaulins for roofs. Supplies are also needed. There's also concern about children who are either orphaned or have been separated from their families.
The numbers are hard to judge but the estimations at this stage are anywhere from 500 to 2,000 children. Shantha Bloemen is with the UN's children's agency, UNICEF.
BLOEMEN: Children are sleeping on the streets, in schools and monasteries without bedding and frequently without protection from the rain. This not only increases the risk of disease but also the potential for their being exploited and abused.
PERCY: The UN says the local Burmese aid workers on the ground who've been working so hard over the past two weeks are in need of backup and they need access to greater expertise. But the junta is not yet prepared to lift restrictions against foreign aid workers.
More visas have been granted to the United Nations' western staff but once they are in the country, the workers cannot leave the capital Rangoon to visit the worst affected areas. The UN wants to send him humanitarian envoy, John Holmes so far he too is awaiting a visa.
