May 12, 2008 (DVB) , A resident of Kunchangone township, Rangoon division, said local villagers in the township have still not received assistance after being hit hard by the recent cyclone.

The Kunchangone resident told DVB in an interview that the villagers were still waiting for help after the cyclone devastated Letkhokkone village, Kyekakkone-gyi village, Kyekakkone-lay village, Tawkoo-gyi village, Aleh village, Tawkoo-lay village, and Taungone, killing a large number of people and cattle and causing houses to collapse.

DVB: Did any of the NGOs who went down to Kunchangone to donate get help to the villagers?

"No, they only went to Kunchangone town. In the villages, help is not arriving because road transport is not good."

DVB: What is the death toll?

"The death toll there is very high. There are hundreds of corpses floating in the river. Many cattle died in their thousands."

DVB: What is the condition of the survivors?

"People are surviving on donated rice. They can’t put roofs on their houses."

DVB: How many people are in each village?

"As far as the population goes, some villages are big with 400 to 500 houses, while others are small villages. The most damaged are Aleh village and Tawkoo-gyi. The most populated were Kyekakkone-gyi and Kyekakkone-lay and these had the highest death toll."

DVB: What do they need most there?

"They need everything; medicines, drinking water. There is no rice to eat for day labourers, there are disease outbreaks. People dare not drink or use water and can’t even re-roof their houses."

Reporting by Naw Say Phaw