Burma’s military junta lashed out poor response of ‘chocolate bar’ aid from donors

Burma’s junta lashed out at offers of foreign aid, criticizing donars demands for access to The Irrawaddy delta and saying cyclone Nargis’2.4 million victims could stand by themselves.

‘The people from Irrawaddy could survive on self-reliance without ‘chocolate bars’ donated by foreign countries’, the Kyemon newspaper said in a Burmese language editorial.

The editorial also accused the international community of being stingy, noting that the United Nations’ $201 million ‘flash appeal’ was still a long way from being full nearly four weeks after the disaster, which left 134,000 dead or missing.

The level of aid stands in stark contrast to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami when outside governments promised $ 2 billions within a week of the disaster.

The editorial also said that Burma needs about $11 billion.The pledging amounted to over $ 150 million, less than the $ 201 million mentioned by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as emergency aid.

And adding a thinly veiled swipe at arch-enemy the United States, ‘there is one big nation that even extended economic sanctions on Burma although it had already been known that Burma was in for a powerful storm.’