Behind the Story in Laputta

(The following is an Internet conversation between an Irrawaddy editor and an Irrawaddy correspondent in Rangoon, who had just returned from Laputta Township in the Irrawaddy delta.)

Correspondent: I’m back.

Irrawaddy office: Welcome back. How was your trip? 
 
Correspondent: I thought I was going to die there. I’m lucky to be talking to you here. I was in deep trouble, but I got what I wanted.

Office: So you can write what you have seen there?

Correspondent: When I went to the villages, I was caught in heavy rain and strong winds. We were in the middle of the river. When I was on the way back to Rangoon, the car almost turned over. In my whole life, I have never had such a rough trip. 

Office: I am proud of you.

Correspondent: I am still scared when I recall the trip, rather than taking pride. If I died in the river, I would have been fish bait. I was afraid that my body would be floating in the river, and no one would come to rescue me. Now, when I think of this I feel funny and want to laugh. I am also ashamed.

Office: I understand your feeling.

Correspondent: The situation in Laputta is worse than in Bogalay. But now, according to a local staffer with the Red Cross in Laputta, 120,000 have died. It is terrible.

Cyclone Nargis survivors sit at a temple turned into a makeshift refugee centre in the town of Laputta. (Photo: Reuters)

Office: Tell me about the relief missions.

Correspondent: Bad! I can’t describe how bad it is.

Office: Go on…

Correspondent: People are suffering from pneumonia and other diseases. There hasn’t been an outbreak of cholera yet. But if it goes at this rate, it surely will.

Office: Because of rain and not enough shelter, right?
 
Correspondent: The UN can only provide rice. It cannot take care of the other things that are needed yet. There are some other organizations. But the relief effort is not effective yet.

Office: How are the refugees surviving? Who is helping them?

Correspondent: You will know when you see my photos—how serious it is. The situation is very serious in villages. Not all refugees are getting to the shelter camps in towns. Rescue teams no longer conduct search and rescue operations. I don’t know who to blame. Donors  [Domestic] can donate directly [to cyclone survivors]. They come from Rangoon and other parts of Burma. But it is not enough.

Office: What about the news that said rice from the UN is now sold by some authorities?

Correspondent: I haven’t seen that yet. The current problem is to get enough food to feed refugees. It is not enough to give rice alone. Rice is the main food, but rice alone cannot make them well and healthy. They haven’t received clothes, either.

Office: What about shelters?

Correspondent: I was really disheartened to see refugees who have no shelter and were shivering in the rain. It is tragic. It is high time to question the UN’s actions. What are they doing? Where is the aid? 

Office: They must get permission to help the refugees from the government.

Correspondent: Can we call this assistance, since they are offering only a little bit of rice and a few medicines? How can we understand this? Before UN relief agencies came, people there had rice soup. Now they are eating low-quality rice and drinking water that has chlorine in it. Maybe one or two biscuits.