RI offers $1m in aid for Myanmar
Indonesia has joined the international community by donating aid worth US$1 million to Myanmar after a cyclone that swept through the country last weekend left more than 15,000 dead.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday informed Myanmarese diplomats of Indonesia's intentions and asked them what the country needed to cope with the disaster.
"The tragedy has reminded the President of the December 2004 tsunami in Aceh. He decided Indonesia must help Myanmar," presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal told a news briefing.
"That's why we will send relief aid supplies worth $1 million to the country as soon as possible."
State media in the military-ruled nation reported more than 15,000 people were killed -- including 10,000 in a single town -- after the cyclone Nargis swept through the southwestern part of the country over the weekend.
The cyclone affected about 24 million people or nearly half the population, according to the United Nations.
Dino said medicine, food and other humanitarian relief supplies would be flown to Myanmar by two Hercules aircraft belonging to the Indonesian Military (TNI) as soon as Indonesia received clearance from Myanmarese authorities.
Yudhoyono spoke with Kyi Maung Oo, a diplomat at Myanmar's embassy in Jakarta, about what the cyclone victims needed and how Indonesia could quickly send aid, Dino said.
Dino said the diplomat thanked Indonesia but said he was having difficulties keeping in touch with Yangon due to damaged communication lines in Myanmar.
"The President has ordered the coordinating minister for people's welfare and the TNI chief to cooperate to allow for quick aid deliveries," Dino said.
However, the junta rulers have warned that foreign aid teams wanting to come to Myanmar would have to negotiate with the regime to get access, AFP reported Tuesday.
The statement sparked criticism from around the world accusing Myanmar's rulers of failing to take sufficient steps to prevent a massive death toll.
Several countries, including China and Thailand, have already sent aid to Myanmar while other Asian nations have also offered help.
UN agencies and charities based in Yangon have begun assessing the damage and moving to provide emergency food, water and medical supplies.
ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan appealed Tuesday for wider international help for Myanmar.
"We are now appealing to all ASEAN governments, the private sector and the civil society ... to please respond generously," Surin was quoted as saying by AFP in Singapore.