The ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance (AHA Centre) assigned a team of experts to Nay Pyi Taw to support Myanmar’s emergency relief activities, according to the ASEAN Secretariat’s press release on August 13.
The centre also deployed the ASEAN Emergency Response and Assessment Team (ASEAN-ERAT) with trained personnel from ASEAN countries to support the flood relief efforts.
ASEAN’s emergency relief items were handed over to the Government of Myanmar on August 9 for distribution to the affected areas.
In a letter to Myanmar Minister of Foreign Affairs Wunna Maung Lwin, ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh expressed his deep sympathy to Myanmar’s central and northern communities affected by heavy floods.
He asserted the AHA Centre will continue to monitor the situation as well as support humanitarian and disaster-relief efforts undertaken by the Government of Myanmar for its people.
AHA Centre Executive Director Said Faisal stressed that ASEAN, through the AHA Centre, will be continuously working closely with the Myanmar Government in view of the current flooding as part of ASEAN’s emergency response plan of the Disaster Emergency Logistics System for ASEAN (DELSA).
Myanmar experienced torrential rains starting from the end of June. The development of a tropical storm over the Bay of Begal has aggravated the situation by creating more heavy downpour and thunderstorm over the last days of July.-VNA