KEY POINTS:
New Zealand will join the international community to assist Myanmar, following last weekend's devastating cyclone which left 22,000 dead, 41,000 missing and tens of thousands homeless, by contributing $500,000 in aid.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said yesterday that $500,000 will be made available through NZAid's Humanitarian Action Fund, and more assistance would be likely once assessments had been made.
She said: "New Zealand NGOs have strong connections with those working on the ground in the region and making this money available will strengthen their response."
The aid would go to reputable organisations such as the Red Cross.
"Our priority is to make sure our assistance gets to those who are most in need, and NGOs are able to reach those communities quickly," she said. "The scale of this devastating cyclone disaster is beginning to emerge and the thoughts of all New Zealanders are with the people of Myanmar."
Myanmar's military regime has made a rare appeal for urgent assistance, and this could be a reflection of the extent of the damage caused by Cyclone Nargis. The Red Cross, which has volunteers in Myanmar, said up to 1 million people could be affected.
Satellite pictures from the United States space agency Nasa showed virtually the entire coastal plain under water, and other video footage showed flattened villages, smashed bridges and homeless survivors.
Myanmar's Information Minister Kyaw Hsan told reporters at a news conference: "We need help, not only from our nationals but also from overseas. We are greatly thankful to friendly countries which are giving assistance to us."
But yesterday, aid workers continue to battle to get access into the country, one of the poorest in the world, delayed by the regime's refusal to waive visa requirements.
The restrictions have drawn criticism from Helen Clark, who said: "While the international community stands ready to assist, the response is being slowed by the military regime which has so far refused to wave visa requirements for aid workers. If they don't get those people on the ground, they're mostly holding up desperate people getting the help they need."
Oxfam New Zealand's executive director Barry Coates said: "It has been a huge hurdle for aid workers as Myanmar rulers said outside aid workers needed to negotiate to get access into the country."
He said Oxfam overcame the problem by working with partner organisations which were "already working on the ground at a grassroots level".
The United Nations' World Food Programme said it had started distributing 800 tonnes of food, but coastal regions remained cut off because of road damage and flood.
Meanwhile, relief aid organisations here have also begun appeals and are calling on New Zealanders to donate.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
NEW ZEALAND RED CROSS
* Donate online at www.redcross.org.nz
* Make an automatic $10 donation by calling 0900 33200
* Drop monetary donations at any New Zealand Red Cross office
OXFAM
* Donate online at www.oxfam.org.nz
* Make an automatic $20 donation by calling 0900 60020
* Call 24-hour hotline 0800 400666
TEAR FUND
* Donate online at www.tearfund.org.nz
* Call 0800 800777
RATANADIPA BUDDHIST TEMPLE
* Drop donations at 3075A Great North Rd
* Call (09) 8263490
UNICEF
* Donate online at www.unicef.org.nz
* Call 0800 800194
BURMESE LOCALS DESPERATE FOR NEWS FROM CYCLONE ZONE
Burmese nationals living here are desperately trying to reach family and friends in their home villages, as the death toll from Cyclone Nargis continues to rise in Myanmar.
Whole villages were washed away when the 10-hour storm, with 240km/h winds, battered most parts of the country, and electricity and telephone lines are down.
Many here are fearing the worst, and told the Herald they depended on news websites and online forums for updates.
But the news they are getting has been far from reassuring.
"We get even more worried when we read news like flying zinc roofs picked up by the high winds sliced off people's heads," said Patrick Aw, an ethnic Karen whose family lived in the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta.
"I have made many calls to my mother and brother in Rangoon since Saturday, but I cannot get through ... there is just no dial tone," he said.
He was making plans to fly home to join the search for the missing if he still does not hear from his family members by the weekend.
But all he could do in the meantime was to pray for their safety, as he did at Auckland's St Patrick's Cathedral yesterday, said Mr Aw, a Catholic.
Some have been luckier, like Aung Aung and Htike Htike Wut Yi, who have been able to connect with their loved ones.
"I was lucky that my brother-in-law rang me, because it was impossiblefor us from New Zealand to phone home," said Mr Aung.
His brother-in-law, a doctor, relayed the message that it was a "disaster zone" there, that "people had no food, medicine or power" and his clinic had been completely washed away.
The possibility of starvation and disease facing family and friends has prompted many to act in helping to rush aid back home.
"They have nothing, and are in need of water, food and shelter, and all these basic necessities have gone into the black market" Mr Aung said.
"My brother told me petrol is being sold at a price that is 10 times higher than before the storm."
Auckland's Burmese Buddhist Temple in New Lynn was a hive of activity yesterday, as monks and volunteers sent out appeals for donations of money, medicine, canned and preserved food, tents, sleeping bags and blankets.
"People have no food, no power, and they need every bit of help they can get," said a volunteer, Jonewin Koko, a cleaner with transport company Stagecoach.
"Sending money is no use to them, as it will benefit Myanmar's military Government more than the victims."
Burmese monk Sumansiri said the next biggest problem was: "How to get the donated items transported to Burma?
"I will approach airlines and pray that one of them will be kind enough to offer to help."
