VZCZCXRO5052
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH RUEHTRO
DE RUEHGO #0387/01 1361028
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 151028Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY RANGOON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7610
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1198
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 4742
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 8286
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 5848
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 1601
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1620
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000387 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MLS, DRL, AND IO 
PACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BM
SUBJECT: FOLLOWING THE RELIEF SUPPLY CHAIN 
 
REF: RANGOON 365 
 
RANGOON 00000387  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  U Aung Tun Khaing of the Department of 
Social Welfare explained a three-part system through which 
the GOB has thus far delivered 1,816 tons of international 
relief supplies to Cyclone Nargis victims.  The supplies, 
transported to the affected regions primarily by ship, reach 
twenty townships in the Irrawaddy delta.  Several other 
governments, including the German, Swiss, and Singaporean 
governments, deliver aid through INGOs, the UN, or the GOB. 
We spoke with contacts from Adventist Relief and Development 
Agency (ADRA) who asserted that their representatives had 
been misquoted in the May 14 New York Times article on 
Cyclone Nargis assistance and stated ADRA had no indication 
that the GOB was diverting supplies from storm victims.  End 
Summary. 
 
Where the Burmese Say It All Goes 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The GOB has created a network of distribution camps 
throughout the Irrawaddy delta region that gets supplies to 
Cyclone Nargis victims efficiently, explained U Aung Tun 
Khaing, Acting Director General of the Department of Social 
Welfare.  The Department of Social Welfare has created a base 
office in Rangoon and coordinates the distribution of relief 
to the delta.  The staging grounds that the government has 
established are in Pathein and Rangoon.  The GOB feeds 
supplies to the cyclone-devastated delta region from both. 
In response to Poloff's question of whether it would be more 
efficient to take C-130 aircraft to Pathein, U Aung Tun 
Khaing indicated that the airport does not have the 
infrastructure to receive shipments there.  He added that 
most supplies to the delta went to areas closer to Rangoon. 
 
¶3. (SBU) From Rangoon and Pathein, relief supplies are 
transported to four intermediary camps, located in Labutta, 
Myaung Mya, Bogale, and Mawlamyine Island.  These camps are 
in the worst-hit areas, where supplies can go directly to the 
victims, said U Aung Tun Khaing.  While he did not have a 
list of where donated relief supplies from the USG or other 
donors go, he showed Poloff a list of the twenty townships 
that donated supplies have reached.  As of the evening of May 
14, 1,816.02 tons of donated relief supplies had been 
distributed by ship, helicopter and truck.  The list that U 
Aung Tun Khaing provided showed that about 80 percent of 
international relief reaches the delta region by ship.  The 
GOB transports the remainder by helicopter (9 percent) and 
truck (11 percent).  This tracks with a report in the 
government newspaper, New Light of Myanmar, on May 15 that 
2,300 kilograms of tents, tarps, medicine, bottled water, 
rice, clothes, and utensils had been sent by helicopter to 
Bogale township the previous day.  Of the twenty townships in 
the delta region that relief supplies have reached, the 
greatest amount goes to Pyapon, Mawbin, Bogale, Dedaye, and 
Pathein. 
 
Donations from Other Countries 
------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) Several other countries have delivered relief 
supplies to Burma in the past few days.  Early on the morning 
of May 15, a flight from Germany delivered seven water 
purification systems, including three that can desalinate 
water.  They passed the systems directly to the World Food 
Program (WFP), said Christian Scheibe of the German Embassy. 
While they are limited in what they can do to monitor the 
effect of the systems, Scheibe hoped that relief workers 
would gain access to the delta "soon" to assist in 
monitoring.  The German Ambassador expressed concern that 
they might not be set up properly without German experts to 
install, but expressed confidence that the purification units 
would go to the delta. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Swiss Ambassador from Bangkok arrived to deliver 
a shipment of goods to the Adventist Development and Relief 
Agency (ADRA).  Hans Peter Lenz of the Swiss Agency for 
 
RANGOON 00000387  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Development and Cooperation explained that the Swiss 
government has worked with ADRA in the past and the group has 
worked in the Irrawaddy delta region for the past two years 
with good access to the area.  Lenz arrived from Switzerland 
on May 9 and hoped to reach the delta region himself soon. 
He noted, however, that he is not sure when the GOB will 
grant him permission to travel. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Singaporean Ambassador Robert Chua has overseen 
small daily shipments of medicine from a private charity in 
Singapore since last week.  He explained that he operates off 
of the assurances of the GOB that supplies reach cyclone 
victims.  He admitted that he does not know exactly where 
supplies go, but hoped to get better information and access 
later.  Ambassador Chua said that even if some supplies have 
been diverted, he had confidence that relief goods were 
making it directly to the victims of the cyclone and 
therefore, he was helping. 
 
UN and INGO Perspectives 
------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) Acting UN Resident Coordinator Dan Baker assured us 
employees in the delta had seen no evidence assistance was 
being diverted.  He assured us also that the UN would ask its 
employees to watch for U.S. relief goods being delivered on 
the ground. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Contacts from ADRA asserted that their 
representatives had been misquoted in yesterday's New York 
Times article that reported assistance was being diverted. 
Today ADRA representatives assured us that they had no 
indication the GOB had diverted any of its aid.  They further 
explained that they have no indication that aid diversion is 
a growing problem.  All of their requests for visas for 
international visitors have been granted.  Thus far, they 
have been able to deliver aid unimpeded to all places they 
have tried to access. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Comment: All donors and the UN recognize the 
political sensitivity of reports of donated relief supplies 
being diverted.  The UN and INGOs are trying to monitor from 
the receiving end in the delta.  In the contacts we have made 
with the Ministry of Social Welfare, officials indicated 
their willingness to be transparent in where the relief 
supplies are going, and we will continue to monitor local 
markets for donated goods regularly.  End Comment. 
VILLAROSA