IRIN
MYANMAR: First helicopters boost logistics effort
22 May 2008


BANGKOK, 22 May 2008 (IRIN) - The first helicopters contracted by the UN 
World Food Programme (WFP), offering a vital humanitarian lifeline to 
scores of cyclone survivors in the Ayeyarwady Delta, arrived in Yangon, 
the former capital, on 22 May.

The helicopters will be able to carry as much as three metric tonnes 
(MT) of food and other critical supplies to victims deep inside the 
delta.

The first of 10 mostly Mi8T helicopters came from Malaysia; the 
remaining aircraft will arrive from various locations across the globe 
in Bangkok, where they will be reassembled before being flown into 
Myanmar.

While costly to operate, helicopters played a significant role in the 
relief effort during the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan and last year's 
cyclone in Bangladesh.

"In a country like this, helicopters can certainly play a big role given 
the access issues, as well as the need to quickly move relief into areas 
that previously hadn't been accessed and therefore not properly 
assessed," Mathew Hollingsworth, a WFP logician and head of the 
logistics cluster, which provides interagency logistics services, told 
IRIN in Bangkok.

More than 80,000 people were killed and 50,000 left missing when Cyclone 
Nargis, a category four storm, hit the country on 2 May. Of the 
estimated 2.4 million people affected, most live in the delta area, but 
only 500,000 have received any international assistance, says the UN.

Logistics strategy

While helicopters will undoubtedly play a significant role in the 
overall logistics of the relief effort, they are only part of the 
equation. More boats are needed in the delta areas, as are trucks.

However, much of the delta's transport infrastructure was badly affected 
by the cyclone, including roads, barges and boats that generally account 
for much of the area's commercial traffic.

WFP has already secured a large number of barges - each with a capacity 
of between 200MT and 600MT - so that goods can be taken in by trucks, 
and then offloaded on to barges in the delta where they can be 
distributed along the inland waterways.

"We're able to access many areas by road. Bridges that were damaged are 
being fixed, etc; however, with the monsoon season coming, roads 
affected by the cyclone will [deteriorate] as the rains increase," 
Hollingsworth warned.

As part of the overall logistics operations, Yangon remains the main 
entry point for aid, primarily by air, but road and sea access is 
reopening.

"The port is beginning to become operational," Hollingsworth said. 
"We'll be expecting to see more assistance coming in by sea" as further 
debris from the cyclone is removed.

WFP provides air deliveries into the country, whereupon goods can be 
trucked to trans-shipment points inside the country. "We receive from 
the airport and then move commodities out of the airport to 
consolidation centres where we then reload them on to trucks and barges 
directly into the Ayeyarwady Delta area, as well as distribute in and 
around Yangon," he said.

WFP has three barges based in Yangon with a total capacity of 1,650MT, 
and another in the town of Pathein in the west of the delta.

Since the cyclone, goods have been moved to eight townships around 
Yangon for distribution, and to another seven townships in the delta.

As part of that effort, four logistics hubs have been established or are 
being set up in Yangon, Labutta, Bogali, Pyapon and Pathein.

"This is within WFP's responsibility as lead of the logistics cluster," 
he said.

Big role for Bangkok

Bangkok's Don Mueang airport became operational this week as the main 
staging centre for global relief to Myanmar. "Bangkok will figure quite 
highly in the whole operation," Hollingsworth confirmed, describing 
Yangon as the main logistics hub and Bangkok as the support.

"From there, we can then run full charters and UN aircraft into Myanmar 
as needed. This will ensure we don't have a congested airport in Yangon. 
By establishing a consolidation hub in Bangkok, goods can effectively be 
called forward as needed, rather than jamming Yangon's already limited 
capacity," he explained.

To date, WFP says it has dispatched enough rice to feed 340,000 people 
for two weeks.


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