Myanmar govt, military win plaudits for flood response

YANGON: Myanmar’s government and military have won rare praise for their handling of the country’s deadly floods, helping to erase criticism over a previous disaster and possibly bolstering support before a landmark election in November.
The floods, coinciding with the tail-end of a cyclone, have killed at least 99 people, left thousands homeless and inundated vast tracts of farmland. A massive relief operation is gathering speed with international help.
It is Myanmar’s biggest natural disaster since Cyclone Nargis killed nearly 140,000 people in May 2008. The military junta then ruling the country sparked global outrage by initially rejecting foreign aid and delaying large-scale relief efforts.
The reformist government that replaced the junta in 2011 has reacted differently; Myanmar quickly appealed for foreign aid, set up shelters for flood victims and cooperated with the same international aid community shunned after Nargis.
“There is some criticism that the government response is too slow, but compared with Nargis ... it is a huge improvement,” said political analyst Kyaw Lin Oo.
Also inviting comparison between the two disasters is President Thein Sein, an ex-general and the junta’s prime minister in 2008 who led the Nargis relief effort.
This time, he was quick to visit affected areas, and at a shelter on Sunday he sipped a glass of water from a purification plant in a gesture aimed at reassuring locals it was safe to drink.