By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON (Reuters) - Western powers kept up the pressure onMyanmar's generals on Thursday to allow a massive aid effort asrelief workers struggled to help an estimated 2.5 millionpeople left destitute by Cyclone Nargis.
The European Union's top aid official has warned that themilitary government's restrictions on foreign aid workers andequipment were increasing the risk of starvation and disease inthe country formerly known as Burma.
Nearly two weeks after the storm tore through the heavilypopulated Irrawaddy delta rice bowl, leaving up to 128,000people dead, supplies of food, medicine and temporary shelterhave been sent in dribs and drabs to devastated communities.
Monasteries and schools are sheltering the homeless andrefugees are clamouring to get into these privately run centresrather than government-run camps.
In the delta town of Bogalay, where around 10,000 peopleare thought to have perished, people complain of forced labourand low supplies of food at the state-run centres.
"They have to break stones at the construction sites. Theyare paid K1,000 (51 pence) per day but are not provided anyfood," said Ko Hla Min, who lost nine members of his family inthe storm.
Along the river in Bogalay rotting corpses are stilltangled in the scrub. Villagers fish, wash and bathe in thesame river.
The United Nations has said over half a million people maynow be sheltering in temporary settlements.
The United Nations has ramped up its estimate of the numberof people in urgent need of aid to 2.5 million, and called fora high-level donors conference to deal with the crisis.
Myanmar state television raised its official toll to 38,491dead, 1,403 injured and 27,838 missing on Wednesday, butindependent experts say the likely figures are far higher.
POLITICAL PRESSURE
The devastation had caused some opposition and human rightsgroups to urge the government to postpone a planned referendumon an army-drafted constitution, a vote they said would bedifficult to conduct in the midst of the tragedy.
In the event the junta went ahead on May 10 in areas notseriously affected by the cyclone, and said on Thursday morethan 92 percent of the ballots cast were in favour of thecharter.
The military sees the constitution as a key step in itsseven-stage roadmap to democracy, which critics say will onlyentrench army rule.
"This referendum was full of cheating and fraud across thecountry," said Nyan Win, a spokesman for the oppositionNational League for Democracy.
A vote in the cyclone-hit areas is set for May 24.
The junta has consistently resisted outside calls forfaster and more transparent moves to democracy, and since thecyclone has been equally resistant to pressure to open up thecountry to full-bore foreign aid operations.
Louis Michel, the European Union's top aid official, is inYangon for talks with the junta a day after Thailand's primeminister was told Myanmar could deal with the problem byitself.
"We want to convince the authorities of our good faith. Weare there for humanitarian reasons," Michel told reporters.
He dismissed suggestions from some countries that theyshould bring in aid without waiting for the authorities'permission.
But as the clock ticks and conditions deteriorate, withmonsoon rains adding to the misery and aggravatingtransportation problems, the political pressure on Myanmar islikely to grow.
Britain's U.N. ambassador, John Sawers, has indicated ahigh-level conference would be more than a donors' meeting,calling it a "major international meeting" in line with PrimeMinister Gordon Brown's calls for a U.N. summit on aid efforts.
PATIENCE WITH GENERALS
However, the Secretary-General of the Association ofSoutheast Asian nations urged patience.
"We are trying to work around a very, very strictresistance and mentality and mindset that have been there for along, long time," Surin Pitsuwan, a former Thai foreignminister, told an audience at the Council on Foreign Relationsin Washington.
Myanmar's military rulers have repeatedly crushedpro-democracy movements and tightly restrict visits byforeigners, especially journalists.
Officials said despite reports some supplies were beingdiverted by the army, they would keep making deliveries, whilecontinuing to urge that aid workers be granted visas.
In Bogalay relief materials were being held in storagewaiting for distribution and government officials soldtin-sheets for roofs at K4,900 ($5) apiece, far above thebudget of most.
Po Aung, 57, who survived the tidal wave that tore throughhis village by clinging onto a tree, just wants to go home.
"Those dead are gone. But, we the remaining want to returnto our own place," said the 57-year old, one of 80 survivorsfrom a village of over 500.
"We are very sad and disappointed too. We just don't knowwhat to do."
(Additional reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan and DarrenSchuettler in BANGKOK; Writing by Carmel Crimmins; Editing byJerry Norton)
(For more stories on Myanmar cyclone follow the link toReuters AlertNet http://www.alertnet.org)
