17 days after cyclone Nargis hit the Irrarawaddy Delta, there is still very little aid reaching survivors in some of the worst hit areas. Refugees sheltering in monasteries are being given a small amount of food and shelter, though the local authorities in Laputta stopped distributing aid three or four days ago. The lack of response from the authorities has been improved somewhat by the actions of the local monks who have been helping survivors, even though their capacity is quite limited.

Whilst some focus on the need to survive, others are more concerned about the impending rice growing season. Planting season is already underway and farmers are now well behind due to the devastating effects of the cyclone. Infrastructure, animals and machinery that are vital for the region’s farmers, have been decimated by the storm; there are growing fears that a failed rice crop could lead in very short time to a food shortage in what has traditionally been the most productive rice growing area in the country.

International concerns continue to revolve around the best method of getting aid to the survivors. ASEAN has held a ten member meeting to discuss how best to achieve a greater aid response. The meeting was inclusive of the Burmese foreign minister and was somewhat successful in that ASEAN has agreed to help distribute international aid. The regime also signaled a marginal softening of its anti-international stance by allowing a large contingent of medical workers into the country to help in relief efforts. It is not yet clear what level of access they will be granted however.

Not surprisingly the visit of the EU Official Louis Michel was reasonably unsuccessful and he was not able to convince regime officials to open up any further in allowing foreign workers into the delta region. Michel was not even granted a meeting with top officials in the regime, and had to be content with talking to lower level dignitaries who do not hold the power to take important decisions. It is hoped that the visits this week of UN Aid Chief John Holmes and the Secretary General Ban Ki Moon will have more luck in pressuring the regime to re-think its stance on allowing the international community a chance to throw its enormous logistical capacity at this humanitarian disaster.

Meanwhile, reports continue to arrive from Rangoon that international aid is on sale there in marketplaces. It is alleged that high-energy biscuits, canned fish and meat, and insecticide-treated mosquito nets are readily available. The goods are said to be labeled as US and Japanese relief supplies.

Over the weekend, Senior General Than Shwe made his first visit to a relief camp on the outskirts of Rangoon to visit survivors. The regimes top officials have been rarely sighted during the two weeks since the cyclone hit, fueling resentment from locals. Few officials have been sighted in the worst affected areas in the delta, many of which are still waiting to receive much needed emergency supplies.

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