Burma's ruling military junta denied reports Wednesday that it was deducting 10 percent from foreign donations to cyclone victims, saying all incoming funds were spent on relief efforts.
The state-owned New Light of Myanmar newspaper said foreign radio broadcasts had wrongly accused the government of deducting the tax from donations deposited in the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank.
The state bank, which usually deducts 10 percent from all foreign currency deposits, has opened special accounts to accept US dollars, euros and Singapore dollars from which all donations would be fully channeled to cyclone survivors, the newspaper said.
Organizations and individuals who have misused relief funds sent from abroad will be punished, it said.
The United Nations estimates that Cyclone Nargis affected 2.4 million people and that more than 1 million of them, mostly in the hardest-hit Irrawaddy delta, still need help. The cyclone killed more than 78,000 people, according to the government.
In separate reports, state media said there have been no outbreaks of contagious diseases in storm-hit areas and that 911 staffers from international aid organizations and neighboring countries were issued visas to enter the country between May 5 and June 5.
The junta has been criticized for dragging its feet on issuing visas and, until recently, not allowing foreign aid workers into the Irrawaddy delta, where most victims are.
Briefing foreign aid agencies in Rangoon on Tuesday, the government stressed that all aid deliveries had to be coordinated with Burmese authorities at both the central and local levels.
On Tuesday, a major operation was launched to assess the needs of storm survivors in a sign the junta is finally cooperating in international aid efforts five weeks after the cyclone buffeted the country.
Some 250 experts from the UN, the government and Southeast Asian nations headed into the Irrawaddy delta Tuesday by truck, boat and helicopter for a village-by-village survey, the United Nations said.
Over the next 10 days, they will determine how much food, clean water and temporary shelter the 2.4 million survivors require, along with the cost of rebuilding houses and schools and reviving the agriculture-based economy.
The state-owned New Light of Myanmar newspaper said foreign radio broadcasts had wrongly accused the government of deducting the tax from donations deposited in the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank.
The state bank, which usually deducts 10 percent from all foreign currency deposits, has opened special accounts to accept US dollars, euros and Singapore dollars from which all donations would be fully channeled to cyclone survivors, the newspaper said.
Organizations and individuals who have misused relief funds sent from abroad will be punished, it said.
The United Nations estimates that Cyclone Nargis affected 2.4 million people and that more than 1 million of them, mostly in the hardest-hit Irrawaddy delta, still need help. The cyclone killed more than 78,000 people, according to the government.
In separate reports, state media said there have been no outbreaks of contagious diseases in storm-hit areas and that 911 staffers from international aid organizations and neighboring countries were issued visas to enter the country between May 5 and June 5.
The junta has been criticized for dragging its feet on issuing visas and, until recently, not allowing foreign aid workers into the Irrawaddy delta, where most victims are.
Briefing foreign aid agencies in Rangoon on Tuesday, the government stressed that all aid deliveries had to be coordinated with Burmese authorities at both the central and local levels.
On Tuesday, a major operation was launched to assess the needs of storm survivors in a sign the junta is finally cooperating in international aid efforts five weeks after the cyclone buffeted the country.
Some 250 experts from the UN, the government and Southeast Asian nations headed into the Irrawaddy delta Tuesday by truck, boat and helicopter for a village-by-village survey, the United Nations said.
Over the next 10 days, they will determine how much food, clean water and temporary shelter the 2.4 million survivors require, along with the cost of rebuilding houses and schools and reviving the agriculture-based economy.
