Aid workers: Myanmar access difficult

YANGON, Myanmar, June 2 (UPI) -- Relief agencies said Monday they are still having trouble reaching survivors of last month's cyclone in Myanmar, despite the government's promises of access.

The agencies said hundreds of thousands of survivors of the May 3 storm are still in need of assistance, but the travel permits for international experts are irregular and limited, stranding many aid workers in the city of Yangon, The New York Times reported Monday.

They said a number of experts have been allowed into the Irrawaddy Delta, which was hit hardest by the cyclone, since Myanmar's ruling junta promised 10 days ago to provide full access for relief workers. However, access to the area remains difficult to obtain, they said.

"Several have been able to make essentially day trips to work with our field staff there," said Paul Risley, a spokesman for the United Nations World Food Program. "But access remains a continuing challenge."

Myanmar analyst Josef Silver stein of Rutgers University said the government's promises are part of a pattern in the country.

"They seem like they are going to cooperate, and just as soon as comment dies down, anything that is going to be useful dies with it," he said.