Thursday, November 3, 2011

Myanmar airlifts flood relief aid to Cambodia

Nov 3, 2011

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) – Myanmar's military aircraft on Thursday airlifted emergency relief goods to Cambodia to help the country's flood-affected victims.

Receiving the relief items including noodles and pure drinking water in a total of 8 tons at the Phnom Penh's Airbase Nhim Vanda, the first vice-president of the National Committee for Disaster Management said: "The aid reflects mutual help during the time of difficulty and it will make the relationship between Cambodia and Myanmar closer."

He said Cambodia used to provide humanitarian aid to Myanmar in 2008 when the country was hit by cyclone.

Meanwhile, the Ambassador of Myanmar to Cambodia Cho Htun Aung said the humanitarian aid was to express the heartfelt sympathy and deep condolences of the government and people of Myanmar to Cambodia.

"The relief goods are relatively small, but it comes from the heartfelt contribution of the government and people of Myanmar to Cambodian flood stricken victims," he said.

"With the assistance from friendly countries and the strong efforts of the government of Cambodia and her people, we believe that Cambodia will recover soon from the floods," he said.

Cambodia has suffered the worst flooding in a decade since August and 18 cities and provinces have been submerged.

At least 250 people were killed and 1.5 million people have been affected.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday that the country has given out flood relief aids to approximately 250,000 affected families with an estimated 1 million people so far.

The distribution is still underway to reach out to all the flood-affected families or about 1.5 million people, he said during the ground breaking ceremony for the construction of the 5th Cambodia-China Friendship Bridge, or 2nd Chroy Changvar Bridge, across Tonle Sap River in Phnom Penh.

It is estimated that the floods cost Cambodia 521 million U.S. dollars, mainly in damages of rice paddies and roads, according to the National Committee for Disaster Management.

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