People made homeless by cyclone Nargis shelter from the rain in Bogalay township area (Photo: EPA/STR.)
by Frank James
The military junta that leads Myanmar, also known as Burma, relented today and agreed to allow one U.S. cargo plane laden with relief supplies to land in the nation more than a week after a cyclone killed perhaps more than 100,000 people and made more than 1.5 million homeless.
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe, speaking from Crawford, Texas where President Bush is preparing for his daughter Jenna's weekend wedding, admitted that one plane load wasn't much considering the staggering need in Myanmar. But at least it was something.
While the Myanmar government is allowing in supplies, it's still refusing to let U.S. relief workers into the nation.
Here's Johndroe's exchange with reporters:
Q Gordon, on Burma,/Myanmar, that first flight that gets in, that's scheduled to get in on Monday, can you say a little bit what that's going to be carrying, whether it's going to be -- what kind of materials are being sent?
MR. JOHNDROE: I think we are -- we're working through those details right now. We have material pre-positioned in the region as well as on ships, Navy ships that are out at sea. I think we're working with NGOs on the ground to determine what is most needed. We've talked some this week, and the U.N. has talked some this week, about the most urgent needs, such as water purification devices as well as other issues to stop some of the water-borne diseases we're very concerned about. So anyway, we're working through those details right now to see what gets loaded on that airplane.
Q Gordon, does the U.S. disaster assistance team in Bangkok get to go in as well?
MR. JOHNDROE: As of right now, visas for them have not been approved. As I said, we're going to continue to work with the government of Burma to allow additional access for not only U.S. assistance, but also assistance from NGOs and other countries. So we'll keep on working on this. We hope this is the beginning of a long line of assistance from the United States to the people of Burma.
Q Is the U.S. close to satisfied with the way the officials in Myanmar are conducting this relief operation? I mean, today is Friday. You're saying a plane, one plane will get there on Monday. There are people in desperate need there.
MR. JOHNDROE: Yes, we are very concerned about the people of Burma, and we're going to keep on working with the government if Burma to do what we can to help the people there. And so that's what we can do now, is just keep on hoping that the process moves forward so the people can get help.
Yes, ma'am.
Q Can you tell us about -- what is the breakthrough that suddenly allowed Myanmar to let us bring our aid into -- just the back story there, how they finally relented?
MR. JOHNDROE: Yes, we've had ongoing negotiations and discussions with the government of Burma, as have a number of countries and NGOs. And I don't want to point to any one specific thing. We certainly appreciate the efforts that some countries, such as China and others, have made to talk to the junta about the need to get help in. And so I don't want to point to one specific thing, but clearly the junta has determined that the magnitude of this disaster requires additional assistance. And so we're pleased to be able to offer that.
Q Can you say what's on the C-131, like how much money that represents?
MR. JOHNDROE: No, we're working through that right now. Olivier?
Q On Lebanon --
Q Can we stay on Myanmar one more?
MR. JOHNDROE: Okay, let's do Burma.
Q Are you aware of reports that there are U.N. food program supplies just piling up on the tarmac in Myanmar?
MR. JOHNDROE: I've seen various reports about assistance from the United Nations and where that may or may not be in the pipeline right now. I believe the World Food Program has just made another announcement about some of their own flights being able to go in the coming days. So I think it's certainly a fluid situation on the aid and we'll just see -- we're pleased that they're allowing a U.S. flight to come in. We're pleased that they allow any aid to come in, and we'll keep on working that.
On Burma?
Q Yes.
MR. JOHNDROE: Mark.
Q It's just one flight that's been approved, right? Isn't that just -- that's a drop in the bucket.
MR. JOHNDROE: That's my understanding, but one flight is much better than no flights. And we're going to keep on working to provide as much assistance as possible in the coming days, weeks and months, because they're going to need our help for a long time.
Wendell.
Q -- the World Food Program, the director of the World Food Program has lashed out at OPEC for the paucity of its contributions, which totaled something like $1.5 million dollars last year. Does the U.S. have concern that given the soaring price of oil, OPEC is not contributing more to world food needs??
MR. JOHNDROE: Well, we certainly encourage all countries to contribute to the World Food Program, whether it's emergency disaster assistance in a country like Burma or general concerns over world food price increases that we've seen lately. Certainly if countries are benefiting from high energy prices, we'd urge them to support other countries in need.
Jeremy.
Q One more on Burma. How concerned -- and I'm sorry if you said this already -- how concerned is the U.S. about the seizure by the junta government of food supplies, and how concerned are you of that happening to U.S. aid when it lands on Monday?
MR. JOHNDROE: One, I addressed what I know about that in Mark's question, so I'd refer you to what I said just a few minutes ago. With regards to concern about U.S. supplies, we are working with NGOs that are on the ground now to make sure that that food reaches the Burmese people, and then -- through a proper supply chain.
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Comments
I believe now it's time that the international community becomes more realistic about the facts and the real situation in Myanmar. For years, even for decades, it has tried to no avail to reach of the the dictators. Now, what it must do is reach out to the people, not the blood-sucking generals who have no regards for the people it is supposed to defense and represent.
I strongly encourage the international community to empower the people of Burma. It's a matter of life and death for us. We need our help now...Please help us the people this time...we'd really appreciate....
Posted by: khar bik (KB) | May 10, 2008 3:02 AM
This was discussed on C-SPAN this morning. There is oil in Myanmar and the Chinese have it locked up. It was said that what we need to do is get the Chinese to talk to the leaders, they will listen to them. Meanwhile, any aide that is getting through is being confiscated by the government and it is not going to the people.
Posted by: lochnessmonster | May 10, 2008 10:14 AM