4 May 2008 (DVB) – Local residents complained that there had been no assistance from the government agencies after deadly cyclone Nargis hit Rangoon and several other cities cross the country.

DVB talked to several residents in Rangoon and the following are some of their accounts.

Resident 1

They (authorities) are doing nothing. After hovering above us in a helicopter once, they did nothing. They are not even coming to see us. We are relying on our own initiative, chopping the trees and turning them into firewood. We have to do things like that.

After raining for the whole day, it stopped. It is cloudy now. Every household is repairing their roofs. Rainwater is still leaking. Many people are in great trouble.

Resident 2

The (uprooted) trees are blocking all the streets. But no one is coming to chop and clear them away. If the government is doing something, I don't know where they are doing it now.

Resident 3

Here, there is nothing like a rescue effort. We have to do it ourselves. Now, the streets are blocked. We are unblocking it around our own house and paving our ways to travel. There is nothing (from the government). We are doing it with our own initiative.

Resident 4

No rescue efforts have been carried out. Even for fallen trees, they only sawed a bit so that cars could cross and piled up the bits of trees on the roadside. They are not taking them straight away. I have not seen anyone doing anything.

Resident 5

We don't know where they (the authorities) are, which corners they have gone to. It is not good to talk about it. They only know how to beat up people. In this kind of situation, we don't know where they are. These people only know how to beat up people.