- Jul 14, 2007
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Malaysian Sikhs help lead Myanmar aid charge
NAJMUDDIN NAJIB
MALAYSIAN Sikhs are taking the lead among Asian NGOs in providing aid to cyclone-ravaged Myanmar. It is now hoped that other NGOs will follow suit and more aid will be channelled to the country before the situ- ation deteriorates further. Malaysian United Sikh rep- resentative Sunil Sukhvir Singh, who is in Yangon with food aid for cyclone Nargis victims, was among representatives of global NGOs who met with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and ruling junta personnel in what is seen as the speeding of aid to the disaster areas.
This points to Asian apolitical NGOs leading the way to access — and emergency help — the hardest hit areas of the rural delta region where ‘worsening conditions’ have been reported since the cyclone hit on May 3.
Sunil Sukhvir said one of the requests he had made during the meeting was that the red tape and bureaucracy for international relief workers be removed, to allow much needed aid to be sent to the critical areas immediately.
“During the meeting, we were informed that while food and medical supplies are the most essential items at the moment, what is also required urgently are plastic roofing sheets to provide shelter to the people left homeless after the storm,” he said.
According to a report on Wednesday in state newspa- per New Light of Myanmar, the junta considered the “storm of plots and intrigues” facing the country as “much worse than the cyclone Nargis”.
However, Ban was quoted as saying that “the govern- ment acknowledges that there has never been a disaster on this scale in the history of their country”.
IT consultant Sunil Sukhvir, who landed in Yangon on Wednesday with half a tonne of infant formula, infant cereals as well as medical supplies, flown in courtesy of AirAsia, attended the ‘Briefing on Relief and Rehabilitation Efforts in the Aftermath of Cyclone Nargis’, organised by the Myanmar authorities for Ban and global bodies given access to the country.
It is understood that the observers would be brought to the Irrawady Delta by heli- copter today to view the extent of the damage, and to assess what relief efforts have achieved so far.
Meanwhile, United Sikhs relief mission project director Harbinder Singh, 54, arrived in Yangon last night with another tonne of food supplies.
The supplies, he said, will go towards the Sikh Gurdwara (temple) in Yangon, where relief workers use the supplies of rice, lentils and canned food to prepare up to 2,000 meals daily for the cyclone victims.
Harbinder, who was also involved in relief work in tsunami-hit Aceh in 2004, said they hope to raise more supplies to be sent to the disaster areas.
“We hope to increase the number of meals provided to 10,000 daily,” he said.
He said the organisation will send two 20-foot con- tainers, containing supplies, aboard a commercial liner to Myanmar on May 26.
The organisation is collecting donations at the Wada Gurdwara in Jalan Kampung Pandan and the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields.
“We have four more con- tainers of supplies ready to go,” he said, adding that they are also looking for more food supplies and volunteers to pack the items at their collection centres at the Wada Gurdwara in Jalan Kampung Pandan and the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields.
Malaysian Sikhs help lead Myanmar aid charge
NAJMUDDIN NAJIB
MALAYSIAN Sikhs are taking the lead among Asian NGOs in providing aid to cyclone-ravaged Myanmar. It is now hoped that other NGOs will follow suit and more aid will be channelled to the country before the situ- ation deteriorates further. Malaysian United Sikh rep- resentative Sunil Sukhvir Singh, who is in Yangon with food aid for cyclone Nargis victims, was among representatives of global NGOs who met with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and ruling junta personnel in what is seen as the speeding of aid to the disaster areas.
This points to Asian apolitical NGOs leading the way to access — and emergency help — the hardest hit areas of the rural delta region where ‘worsening conditions’ have been reported since the cyclone hit on May 3.
Sunil Sukhvir said one of the requests he had made during the meeting was that the red tape and bureaucracy for international relief workers be removed, to allow much needed aid to be sent to the critical areas immediately.
“During the meeting, we were informed that while food and medical supplies are the most essential items at the moment, what is also required urgently are plastic roofing sheets to provide shelter to the people left homeless after the storm,” he said.
According to a report on Wednesday in state newspa- per New Light of Myanmar, the junta considered the “storm of plots and intrigues” facing the country as “much worse than the cyclone Nargis”.
However, Ban was quoted as saying that “the govern- ment acknowledges that there has never been a disaster on this scale in the history of their country”.
IT consultant Sunil Sukhvir, who landed in Yangon on Wednesday with half a tonne of infant formula, infant cereals as well as medical supplies, flown in courtesy of AirAsia, attended the ‘Briefing on Relief and Rehabilitation Efforts in the Aftermath of Cyclone Nargis’, organised by the Myanmar authorities for Ban and global bodies given access to the country.
It is understood that the observers would be brought to the Irrawady Delta by heli- copter today to view the extent of the damage, and to assess what relief efforts have achieved so far.
Meanwhile, United Sikhs relief mission project director Harbinder Singh, 54, arrived in Yangon last night with another tonne of food supplies.
The supplies, he said, will go towards the Sikh Gurdwara (temple) in Yangon, where relief workers use the supplies of rice, lentils and canned food to prepare up to 2,000 meals daily for the cyclone victims.
Harbinder, who was also involved in relief work in tsunami-hit Aceh in 2004, said they hope to raise more supplies to be sent to the disaster areas.
“We hope to increase the number of meals provided to 10,000 daily,” he said.
He said the organisation will send two 20-foot con- tainers, containing supplies, aboard a commercial liner to Myanmar on May 26.
The organisation is collecting donations at the Wada Gurdwara in Jalan Kampung Pandan and the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields.
“We have four more con- tainers of supplies ready to go,” he said, adding that they are also looking for more food supplies and volunteers to pack the items at their collection centres at the Wada Gurdwara in Jalan Kampung Pandan and the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields.
Malaysian Sikhs help lead Myanmar aid charge