Jun 10, 2008 (DVB), Residents of Bogalay township, Irrawaddy division, said helicopters sent by the World Food Programme have arrived in town carrying aid supplies for local villagers.

A local resident, speaking yesterday, said it was the first time such aid had reached the area.

"Today is the first time we have seen the helicopters , there are about six of them, all with UN and WFP logos," the resident said.

"They went back and forth one after the other and dropped supplies in the football field. They were doing it very professionally," he said.

"I don’t know where they're going to distribute the materials, but apparently they will go to cyclone victims in small villages."

The international aid effort to cyclone survivors has been hampered by government obstructions and damage to infrastructure, and many remote villages have still not received aid in the month since the cyclone.

Reporting by Aye Nai