U.S. to send aid to flood-hit Myanmar: Kerry

[Jonathan Fairfield]

U.S. to send aid to flood-hit Myanmar: Kerry

YANGON/KUALA LUMPUR | BY AUNG HLA TUN AND DAVID BRUNNSTROM

The United States will announce an aid package for Myanmar to help it provide relief for hundreds of thousands of people affected by floods, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday.

The Myanmar government appealed for international aid to bolster relief efforts on Monday. Speaking in Kuala Lumpur, Kerry said the U.S. embassy in Yangon was working closely with Myanmar officials to determine the priorities for the aid.

"We express our hopes that the impact of this can obviously be dealt with minimal further loss of life and disruption," Kerry told a meeting with Southeast Asian foreign ministers he co-chaired with Myanmar's foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told a subsequent meeting with Southeast Asian counterparts that Australia would provide A$2 million worth of emergency relief.

More than 250,000 people have been affected and 69 killed by flooding that was triggered last week by monsoon rains, according to Myanmar's Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement.

The Myanma Ahlin newspaper, which carried the ministry's statement, also reported that water had risen above spillways at 40 dams across the country.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/05/us-myanmar-storm-idUSKCN0QA0Q320150805

-- Reuters 2015-08-05

[Halion]

Yes ,looks like many nations are responding to the plight of the Burmese people with one notable absence, Thailand, !!

Where is the Buddhist spirit which seems to dwain when there is no financial or personal gain on the horizon

[BarnicaleBob]

Yes ,looks like many nations are responding to the plight of the Burmese people with one notable absence, Thailand, !!

Where is the Buddhist spirit which seems to dwain when there is no financial or personal gain on the horizon

Wrong, actually according to The Nation at multi media, Thailand has given Myanmar a whopping five million baht to the flood relief in Myanmar.