Aid from Indonesia headed to Myanmar

January 4, 2017

FOUR shipping containers of food and clothing, the first batch of ten containers of aid from Indonesia, for the two communities in Maungtaw Township, is expected to arrive Yangon port on Wednesday.

On behalf of the Union Government, U Kyaw Moe Tun, Director-General of the International Organizations and Economic Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, welcomed Indonesia’s shipment of aid through diplomatic channels.

The move comes after coordination between the two governments through diplomatic relations last month. The government will deliver the aid which includes clothing, dried noodles and food for children to both Muslim and Buddhist communities in northern Rakhine, he added.

The first four containers were loaded on a vessel at Tanjumgpriok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 29th December, 2016, according to the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta, at the presence of Indonesian President and Myanmar Ambassador in Jakarta U Aung Htoo.

Regarding an aid flotilla from Malaysia, which is reportedly headed to Myanmar, U Kyaw Zeya, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said there has been no offers from Malaysia through the diplomatic channels.

“It would be appreciated if aid from foreign countries are delivered to both communities in Rakhine in a fair and balanced manner,” said U Kyaw Zeya.

At the retreat of ASEAN foreign ministers last month, State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi expressed Myanmar’s readiness to grant necessary humanitarian access.

Myo Myint and Tun Win Naing

Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar