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Time is precious for cyclone victims
With thousands of people killed and aid workers suggesting that more than one million people have been left homeless in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, the task ahead will have to be a huge international undertaking.
- Gulf News
- Published: 00:35 May 7, 2008
As the scale of the Myanmar cyclone disaster becomes painfully more apparent, the country's military rulers finally allowed international relief efforts to be mobilised.
But precious time was wasted by the initial hesitation. On a number of points the military rulers have been found wanting. Even before the cyclone struck they refused to warn citizens that it was on course for a direct hit and were incompetently slow in allowing aid to arrive once it did strike.
With thousands of people killed and aid workers suggesting that more than one million people have been left homeless in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, the task ahead will have to be a huge international undertaking.
To put it in perspective, this is the worst natural disaster in that region since the 2004 tsunami. The cyclone struck at a time when the regime is under intense international pressure to democratise following the widespread suppression of street protests last year.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as the main regional economic group, has every right to demand better governance but Myanmar's rulers are past masters at turning a deaf ear to international pleas. It is doubtful that an act of nature, no matter how devastating, will usher in a more reasonable approach.
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