US concerned about aid reaching Myanmar
UTAPAO AIR BASE, Thailand (AP) - May 12, 2008 Ky Luu told reporters that the United States plans to rely on
aid groups to track supplies flown into the country Monday on a
U.S. military C-130 cargo plane. But U.S. officials were not
allowed to accompany the supplies to the areas hardest hit; and Luu
acknowledged that it is difficult to determine what will happen to
the aid in the tightly controlled, military-led country.
Asked about the lack of U.S. control over the distribution of
the supplies, Luu said: "What we are trying to do here is react,
on the one hand, to the immediate humanitarian imperative; on the
other hand, we do want to make sure to be able to verify and track
these commodities."
Luu urged Myanmar to allow U.S. disaster experts into the
country to make sure the aid gets to the people in need.
Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said the plane that
landed Monday carried water, mosquito nets and blankets and that
Myanmar has given permission for two more C-130 flights.
The local government is taking possession of the goods and
working to distribute them, Whitman said. He said the U.S. is still
talking to the Myanmar junta about the possibility of U.S.
distribution of aid inside the country.
Luu said Myanmar's allowing U.S. flights of aid is a good start,
but the supplies represent only a small fraction of what the U.S.
and others are prepared to give.
The Navy's USS Essex expeditionary strike group is expected to
arrive off Myanmar on Tuesday. It was in the region to participate
in a multinational military exercise in the Gulf of Thailand.
The White House said the United States was prepared to provide
an additional $13 million in food and logistical assistance to the
United Nations' world food program for distribution to cyclone
victims, bringing overall U.S. aid to $16.25 million.
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AP writers Pauline Jelinek and Matthew Lee contributed to this
report.
