The US government plans to send two more aid flights into Burma tomorrow and triple the amount of aid money on it way to the devastated nation amid the mounting death toll from cyclone Nargis.
The two flights of aid to disaster victims will include plastic sheeting and mosquito nets to help Burmese villages guard against the spread of infectious disease, according to the US state department.
However, the flights will not carry food despite reports of shortages and hoarding by the military regime that controls Burma. US disaster response teams also are still awaiting the regime's approval to enter the isolated nation and help with rebuilding, foreign disaster assistance director Ky Luu said.
"At this point in time what's being accepted is our commodities … [W]e have to stay optimistic, support the in-country team, and hope that the commodities will be able to reach the beneficiaries," Luu told reporters.
The Bush administration also announced an additional $13m in aid for Burma, to be directed through the UN world food programme. That brings the total amount of US assistance to $16.25m since Nargis first hit more than a week ago.
That UN-directed aid is expected to include 1,000 tonnes of food for the starving and the displaced, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.
Luu said the state department is also examining a partnership with US humanitarian groups working in Burma on more relief flights to be sent under commercial cover.
Still, concerns are mounting over the regime's willingness to siphon off aid intended for the impoverished Burmese people. As the official death toll from Nargis climbs to nearly 30,000, humanitarian groups warn that disease spread by unsanitary conditions could exponentially multiply the casualties.
"[I]t will take far, far more than one plane" to help rebuild Burma, congressional Democratic leader Harry Reid said today on the floor of the US Senate. "The junta must allow in more supplies, provide visas to aid workers from around the world, and allow those workers access to regions and communities that are suffering."
