Junta Snr-Gen Than Shwe toured Bogalay and Pyapon townships on Monday, areas in the Irrawaddy delta that were devastated by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008.
Burma’s state-run media reported on Tuesday that Than Shwe and his delegation toured medical clinics, schools and government departments in Bogalay Township.
It was his second trip following the cyclone that devastated the Irrawaddy delta, killing almost 140,000 people and affecting more than 2 million, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in Burma’s history.
Than Shwe told government authorities to implement construction projects on roads, bridges and buildings, according to state-run media which ran front-page stories on Tuesday, saying the delta has almost fully recovered from the cyclone’s devastation.
Than Shwe was widely criticized in the cyclone’s wake for waiting two weeks to visit the delta and for refusing to allow foreign humanitarian aid to enter the country, seriously delaying the rescue effort. Authorities refused to let ships carrying relief supplies from the US, France and Britain to enter its territorial waters, reportedly in fear of an invasion.
NGOs in the delta say that many people still need aid and lack shelter and adequate food. A Rangoon based NGO, which provides shelters and clean water in Laputta, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that it has cut its services in half because of a lack of funds.
“There are many things to be done, but we can’t do it as we don’t have enough money. For people who don’t get shelters, they have to wait,” he said.
Cyclone Nargis devastated agriculture and fisheries, the two major industries in the storm-affected area, and they have yet to recover fully.
According to a Rapid Food Security Assessment released in March by the United Nations’ World Food Programme, 83 percent of sampled households reported being in debt because they had to borrow money to buy food.
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