May 21, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 15, 1429

UNITED NATIONS, May 20: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday he will do all he can to reinforce the immediate relief effort in the cyclone-devastated Myanmar and will also draw attention to the need for long-term reconstruction and development.

“I will do my utmost for the people of Myanmar,” Mr Ban told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York. “I want to see the conditions under which relief teams are working and I intend to do all I can to reinforce their efforts in coordination with the Myanmar’s authorities and international aid agencies.”

Mr Ban will arrive in Yangon, Myanmar, early Thursday morning and is set to tour the Irrawaddy delta area – the part of the country most affected by the cyclone.

He said the UN had a functioning relief programme in place but cautioned that it is a “critical moment” for the country and said that so far aid workers had been able to reach only about 25 per cent of people inneed in Myanmar. According to UN estimates, some 2.4 million people have been severely affected by Cyclone Nargis.