7 June 2008

A commercial container ship sailed into Yangon port on Thursday (5 June 2008) bringing relief supplies donated by France for Labutta and Bogale which are among the hardest-hit areas in the Ayeyawaddy (Irrawaddy) Delta.

France's Ambassador to Myanmar Jean-Pierre Lafosse, members of the Tripartite Core Group and Myanmar Government officials witnessed the unloading of the relief supplies at Yangon port. Singapore's Ambassador to Myanmar, Robert Chua, and ASEAN's leading member of the TCG said, "The 1,000 tonnes of relief supplies donated by France, which will be delivered by the World Food Programme, will help the ongoing urgent relief works in the Ayeyawaddy Delta. The Tripartite Core Group will continue to work with the Myanmar Government to expedite relief work for the cyclone victims."   

The ship chartered by France brought food and other humanitarian assistance such as mosquito nets, medicines and basic necessities. The World Food Programme's chartered boats then transported the relief supplies to Labutta and Bogale.

On Thursday, 5 June 2008, two Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) Advance Teams arrived at Labutta and Pyapon and have been traveling to the remote areas in the Ayeyawaddy (Irrawaddy) Delta to draft initial damage assessments and trace unreached cyclone victims. They will share their impressions of the terrains, the infrastructure and the level of support they have been accorded by the Myanmar Government with the rest of the assessment personnel, including the ASEAN Emergency Rapid Assessment Team (ERAT), being assembled and ready to be deployed on 9-10 June 2008 in the Yangon Division, and the Ayeyawaddy (Irrawaddy) Delta starting on 11 June 2008. They will then map out strategies and logistics for the main part of the survey and assessment works to be conducted in the Delta areas during the next 2 weeks.