Myanmar concedes access

YANGON, Myanmar -- Aid agencies geared up Saturday to go into Myanmar's cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta after the country's ruling junta vowed to open its doors to help ahead of an international donors meeting.

After weeks of stubbornly refusing assistance, Myanmar's ruling generals have told the United Nations they are now willing to allow workers of all nationalities to help survivors of the storm that left about 78,000 people dead and another 56,000 missing.

The ability to assess the situation will be critical in securing pledges from foreign governments, and the junta's about face was seen as a concession to get more aid when 45 potential donor nations meet Sunday in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city.

An estimate released Saturday by the U.N. said that while about 42 percent of the 2.4 million people affected by the storm had received some kind of emergency assistance, only 23 percent of the 2 million people living in the hardest-hit areas had been reached.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Myanmar's ruling generals had told him that international aid workers will be able "to freely reach the needy people," a pledge the junta has not publicly acknowledged.

Ban made the comments during a trip Saturday to China's earthquake zone before heading to Bangkok, Thailand.

Ban and the Thai prime minister inaugurated a new hub for relief efforts, a warehouse at Bangkok's old international airport. Ban said authorities were planning two flights a day from there into Yangon, using Ilyushin 76 and Antonov 12 airplanes.

The World Food Program -- which has gotten the go-ahead for helicopter operations -- and other non-government aid organizations also will use this hub.

On the first flight from the hub, UNICEF sent three mobile water treatment plants that can produce 10,000 liters of water a day to help 3,200 people. "It will save lives," Ban said.

The United Nations has launched an emergency appeal for $201 million. That figure will likely increase once disaster relief experts are able to survey the stricken Irrawaddy Delta.

So far, the U.N. has received about $50 million in contributions and about $42.5 million in pledges in response to the appeal, said Stephanie Bunker, spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Myanmar has estimated the economic damage at about $11 billion.

The conference Sunday is being sponsored by the U.N. and the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which is taking the lead in organizing the delivery of aid to Myanmar, one of its members.

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan, calling it a "Coalition of Mercy," said he believed donors would show their goodwill, but added that they would be unlikely to honor pledges if the junta failed to follow through on its promises for international access.

"I don't think we have any doubt that there will be a lot of goodwill coming through," Surin said. "But again it will depend on how we carry out this goodwill, or administer this goodwill, with the cooperation of Myanmarese authorities."

"We expect no obstacles," he said.

The junta's apparent concession came Friday after three weeks of blocking relief for cyclone survivors.

"I want to be optimistic, but I'm skeptical," Lionel Rosenblatt, president emeritus of U.S.-based Refugees International said. "The devil is going to be in the implementation."

The possible breakthrough distracted attention from the junta's widely criticized decision to push ahead Saturday with a constitutional referendum in Yangon and hard-hit areas of the delta.

Turnout for the vote appeared low, which was expected since many potential voters remained consumed with rebuilding their lives and the government already had announced the final results.

The rest of the country voted May 10 on the controversial proposed charter and state radio has reported that the delayed balloting could not reverse the constitution's reported approval by 92.4 percent of the 22 million eligible voters.

Myint Maung, a lawyer who voted against the constitution along with five family members, said officials at his polling station in Yangon's Sanchaung township told him under half of the 2,000 eligible voters turned out Saturday.

A cyclone victim, 27-year-old Naing Lin, said he was "not even aware of the referendum, and even if I were, I wouldn't be interested."

Naing Lin, whose entire immediate family died in the storm, was staying at a monastery in Kyonemaw village southwest of Yangon.

Monasteries and schools have served as de-facto shelters for many of those left homeless by the cyclone but many people have been displaced from them as the government has tried to gather people in official refugee camps. In some cases, the were sent way because schools were to be used as polling stations.

The government has been widely criticized over the proposed charter, not only for the timing of the vote so soon after the cyclone, but because it is viewed as an effort to strengthen the military's grip on power.

The xenophobic junta has kept the delta virtually off-limits to foreign aid workers, who have been barred from traveling outside Yangon.

Aid agencies said much needs to be clarified from Ban's meeting, ranging from logistical issues about when aid workers' visas will be granted to how long they will be allowed to stay in Myanmar and where they can work.

"We're hopeful that it means more foreign aid workers will go to the worst-affected areas," said Save the Children spokeswoman Kate Conradt. "We already have a number of expatriate staff in Yangon. They just can't leave the city."

Senior Gen. Than Shwe has refused to relent on the landing of military ships -- U.S., French and British warships are waiting with aid off Myanmar's coast but have not been allowed to dock. Myanmar's junta is nervous about any shore landings because it fears an invasion or political interference.

Ban said consultations on that front were likely to continue.

Ban flew to Chengdu in China on Saturday to inspect the damage from the May 12 earthquake there. While touring earthquake-hit areas, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said China will pledge $10 million in aid for Myanmar at Sunday's conference.

The U.N. chief was to return to Yangon on Sunday to co-chair the donor's conference.