Myanmar cyclone victims getting spoiled food

updated 6:02 p.m. ET May 13, 2008

YANGON, Myanmar - Many cyclone victims are getting spoiled or poor-quality food from Myanmar's junta instead of the enriched supplies being delivered by foreign governments and charities, victims and aid workers said Tuesday.

A longtime foreign resident of Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, told The Associated Press in Bangkok by telephone that angry government officials complained to him about the military misappropriating aid.

He said the officials told him that high-energy biscuits rushed in on the World Food Program's first flights were sent to a military warehouse. They were exchanged for what the officials described as "tasteless and low-quality" biscuits produced by the Industry Ministry to be handed out to cyclone victims, he said.

The foreign resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity because identifying himself could jeopardize his safety, said it was not known if the high-quality food was being sold on the black market or consumed by the military.

A government spokesman did not immediately respond to an e-mailed query from the AP seeking a comment. The allegations were impossible to confirm independently because of the junta's restrictions on journalists.

Conflicting reports about food quality
The World Food Program said it had not heard of its supplies disappearing. "We've had no reports whatsoever about any incidents of this kind," Marcus Prior, a WFP spokesman, said in Bangkok.

CARE Australia's country director in Myanmar, Brian Agland, said members of his local staff brought back some of the rotting rice being distributed in the devastated Irrawaddy River delta.

"I have a small sample in my pocket, and it's some of the poorest quality rice we've seen," he said. "It's affected by salt water and it's very old."

It's unclear whether the rice, which he described as dark gray in color and consisting of very small grains, is coming from the government or from mills in the area or warehouses hit by the cyclone.

"Certainly, we are concerned that (poor quality rice) is being distributed," Agland said by telephone from Yangon. "The level of nutrition is very low."

Many survivors also said they were either not getting any aid or were being handed rotten, moldy rice.

Military taking control of aid
The military, which has ruled with an iron fist since 1962, has taken control of most aid sent by other countries, including the United States, which made its first aid delivery Monday and sent in another cargo plane Tuesday with 19,900 pounds of blankets, water and mosquito netting. A third flight was to take in a 24,750-pound load.

U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Douglas Powell said the situation remained fluid, but flights were expected to continue after Tuesday, which appeared to broaden the original agreement for three flights on Monday and Tuesday.

State television said the death toll had gone up by 2,335 to 34,273, and the number of missing stood at 27,838 after many of those listed as missing were accounted for.

The United Nations says the actual death toll could be between 62,000 and 100,000.

State television said the navy commander in chief, Rear Adm. Soe Thein, told Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of the U.S. Pacific forces, that basic needs of the storm victims are being fulfilled and that "skillful humanitarian workers are not necessary."

MORE FROM ASIA-PACIFIC

Asia-Pacific Section Front

Philippines declares martial law in province Swedish store removes N. Korean jeans Smuggled kangaroos freed; man arrested 17 killed in Indonesian amusement park fire Aussies wary of kangaroo flavored chips Uighurs using missionary railway to flee China Asia-Pacific Section Front   Add Asia-Pacific headlines to your news reader: