Myanmar still exporting rice

THILAWA, Myanmar — While Myanmar's military regime Friday restricted the rush of international aid offered to help hungry and homeless cyclone survivors, the government was exporting tons of rice through its main port.

A crane was loading sacks of rice into a freighter destined for Bangladesh, according to the transport drivers.

The junta has a monopoly on rice exports and said this week that it plans to meet commitments to sell rice, which has reached record high prices on the world market, to countries including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka even though Myanmar's main rice-producing region suffered the worst cyclone damage. The cyclone caused massive destruction in the Irrawaddy River delta, with farmers now desperate for food.

Yet as rice was loaded for export at Thilawa port, cyclone survivors in nearby villages said authorities had handed out rations of rotting rice, apparently from ruined stocks in the port's massive warehouse. The storm soaked approximately 40 percent of the stored rice supplies worth millions of dollars, according to the chief driver, who did not want to be named.

Cyclone Nargis packed winds of 120 to 150 mph, snapping large trees and concrete fence posts, and bending steel electricity poles at a 45-degree angle. About 23,000 people died, according to officials, with tens of thousands still missing. One survivor described the sound of the storm as otherworldly.

The wind pummeled Thilawa port so hard that it toppled a 10-story crane.

A private charity that normally provides coffins so the poor can get a proper burial, the Free Funeral Service Association, headed by movie star and opposition supporter Kyaw Thu, used the charity's pickups to deliver two kilos, or 4.4 pounds, of rice to many families Wednesday. They promised to return in a few days with more.

Villagers say they saw cartons of instant noodles unloaded at a government office and say officials kept them for themselves. The villagers said they received from the government a half-pound of rotting rice.