May 19 (Bloomberg) -- Myanmar agreed to let Asian relief workers deliver cyclone aid to the hardest-hit areas after weeks of political pressure from Western countries trying to help victims stave off hunger and disease.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations may send medical teams and aid workers to Myanmar, Singapore's foreign minister, George Yeo, said after an emergency meeting of the group today.
``You're going to see quite dramatic steps by the Burmese to open up,'' said Mark Malloch-Brown, U.K. minister for Africa, Asia and the United Nations, in a British Broadcasting Corp. interview that followed a visit with military leaders in the country. India, China, Thailand and Indonesia would be part of a group that Myanmar's military, traditionally suspicious of the West, can accept, he said.
Cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar's ``rice bowl'' on May 3, flooding the low-lying cropland of the Irrawaddy delta, which analysts say could cause famine in coming months. The storm caused an estimated $10 billion in damage and left 134,000 people dead or missing.
The U.S. and United Nations, meanwhile, continued flying in tons of food and disaster supplies, which the military regime and private relief groups will distribute.
Thousands Lack Shelter
Myanmar's military junta had rejected most international help for relief operations in the southern Irrawaddy River delta, struck by the cyclone 17 days ago. Hundreds of thousands of people are without shelter as monsoon rains begin in the Southeast Asian country formerly known as Burma.
Today's Asean meeting and the aid plan will be a ``defining moment'' for the group, Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan predicted in Washington last week.
Asean has long been criticized by Western nations for failing to press Myanmar to restore democracy and censure the junta for inflicting abuses on its citizens. The Asean members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
``International assistance to Myanmar, given through Asean, should not be politicized,'' Yeo said. ``On that basis, Myanmar will accept international assistance.''
`Show Solidarity'
The meeting is a ``good opportunity for Asean to show solidarity'' with Myanmar, Thai Foreign Minister Noppadol Pattama said before the meeting, Agence France-Presse reported. ``There won't be any pressure. There would be persuasion to allow Myanmar to consider opening or giving more access to international humanitarian assistance.''
Asean will probably send Pitsuwan to Myanmar to see what is needed for the relief effort, he said.
Mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever may surge this week unless aid is rushed to survivors, the World Health Organization has said.
``The impact of the cyclone on Myanmar will be much greater economically and long-lasting than the tsunami was on Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand, because the areas that have been hit are the food basket,'' Tim Costello, head of World Vision Australia, said in an interview from Yangon last week. ``We're looking potentially at food scarcity and famine.''
The cyclone is the worst natural disaster to hit Southeast Asia since the 2004 tsunami that killed more than 220,000 people in coastal communities across the Indian Ocean.
Food Supply
The worst-affected areas produce most of Myanmar's rice, fish and pork, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said last week. Prices of goods have at least doubled since the cyclone struck, according to the UN.
No more than a quarter of the people affected by the cyclone have received help, Malloch-Brown said. French, British and U.S. ships carrying relief supplies are stationed off Myanmar's coast, and Asian nations may ferry those supplies to the delta region, Malloch-Brown said in the BBC broadcast.
The U.S. military flew 15 disaster relief flights into Myanmar during the weekend and today, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
The cargo planes delivered 700,000 pounds (330 metric tons) of supplies, including water, blankets, hygiene kits, bed nets, plastic sheeting, food and medical supplies, he said. There have been a total of 31 such flights into Myanmar to help in cyclone relief.
Reports from aid organizations suggest the supplies are reaching affected areas. The U.S. has no aid workers there and is unable to verify the reports, Whitman said.
Ban's Visit
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to travel to Myanmar tomorrow to survey aid efforts, two days after UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes left for the country. Ban is expected to attend a joint Asean-UN aid-pledging conference in Myanmar's former capital, Yangon, on May 25.
While the coordination of aid inside Myanmar is better than anticipated, most UN aid workers are still awaiting visas to enter the country, said UN spokeswoman Michele Montas.
The UN's World Food Program has now purchased 8,500 tons of rice grown in Myanmar, enough to feed 1.5 million people for two weeks. An additional 1,050 tons of beans have been purchased.
The agency has landed 13 air shipments inside the country since the cyclone struck.
France would agree to take part in any donor conference in response to the disaster, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in an interview with Europe 1 radio today, while calling the process ``almost pathetic.''
``Aid isn't arriving,'' Kouchner said. ``It's heart- breaking and a scandal.''
France has a military transport ship with aid waiting outside Myanmar's territorial waters.
Junta chief Than Shwe met with storm survivors for the first time yesterday, the BBC reported. Myanmar state television showed the general visiting relief camps in the Hlaing Thar Yar and Dagon suburbs of Yangon, it said.
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