Five weeks after cyclone Nargis swept through the Irrawaddy Delta, the situation is gradually improving. In Yangon, water supply has been virtually completely re-established, although system pressure fluctuates with power supply. Landlines are still unpredictable. Potable water and food supplies are returning to normal, although concerns remain about shortages in the medium and long term. Fuel oil and gasoline distribution is also getting back to normal.
The work performed by the subsidiary’s employees on behalf of nearby cyclone victims is showing tangible results.
The school near our office, which has more than 500 students, has been completely restored thanks to funding from the subsidiary. Classes have begun again.
The school after the cyclone and after repairs.
In addition, Total E&P Myanmar’s key priority is rebuilding the orphanages that it supports. They were hard hit, and the subsidiary has assumed responsibility for their reconstruction through local NGO Child Focused Network.
The Nge Aw Hsan orphanage after the cyclone and today.
A number of householders also received financial and logistical support from the subsidiary to rebuild their homes.
The bamboo and straw home after the cyclone and after repairs.
However, the situation remains serious for the people in the delta region, far from Yangon. Despite the relative scarcity of its logistical resources, the subsidiary undertook an exceptional operation in Ama, near our emergency helipad, to help people displaced by the cyclone.
In these severely devastated regions…
Damage near a road and a family in the remains of their home.
…Total’s socio-economic teams are distributing food and staples, either on their own or with a French business.
Rice distribution on a boat and on land.
In more remote areas, Total E&P Myanmar is relying on NGOs, providing either financing or logistical support on the ground.
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Total Continues to Provide Assistance to Nargis Victims through Its Socioecomonic Team and in Cooperation with Local and International NGOs
May 26, 2008 |
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Immediately following the passage of cyclone Nargis, Total E&P Myanmar socioeconomic team members, who work to improve conditions for villagers in the pipeline region on a day-to-day basis, geared up to provide assistance to the local population.
Given the enormous needs, the teams have had to focus their efforts on Yangon. Emergency assistance was provided to people living in the immediate vicinity of the subsidiary’s offices, who were already disadvantaged even before the cyclone struck. With the generous support of office employees and local residents, the socioeconomic team distributed enough food for 2,200 people for two weeks. The team and volunteer workers are pursuing their efforts to rebuild 100 houses and the local school. Team members are also repairing a number of badly damaged buildings at orphanages supported by the Yadana project partners. As well, they have been providing additional food to the orphans, as the usual supplier has been unable to meet their needs. Each week, the socioeconomic team boils 2,000 eggs and distributes them to the orphanages. Medicine has also been donated to the Yangon Children’s Hospital, which is short of supplies.
With no operational teams in the Irrawaddy Delta, Total E&P Myanmar decided to provide logistics-related and financial support to NGOs operating on the ground. The subsidiary has donated 100,000 liters of fuel oil to Save The Children, German Agro Action, Malteser International, UN Coordination and Italy’s Cooperazione e Sviluppo (CESVI). In addition, the Nilar, one of the Yadana joint venture’s workboats, has been assigned to carry emergency supplies from Ranong in Thailand for the French Red Cross and Isha Tanaka, a humanitarian association. To assess the extent of the disaster, flights have been carried out over the regions struck by the cyclone using a helicopter belonging to Total and its partners.
In addition to providing $2 million in financial aid to leading international relief organizations, Total Myanmar has also prepared a list of recognized NGOs that, through their local presence, are able to effectively deliver assistance to people in remote areas. The subsidiary is currently providing both financial assistance, like the $25,000 donated to International Development Enterprises (IDE), and supplies, such as the water purification tablets donated to Metta Development Foundation, a Myanmar NGO, that will provide 70,000 people with enough drinking water for one week.
Total E&P Myanmar is also continuing to help its own and contractor employees, who have received rice and drinking water. For people who have wells, portable generators are being transported around the city to power pumps and fill up water tanks. For others, water trucks are filling up tanks.
The recent arrival of food and building materials shipped from Singapore by the subsidiary will allow the aid to continue.
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Total E&P Myanmar is further boosting its aid to victims of cyclone Nargis, a week after its passage
May 14, 2008 |
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Through its socioeconomic team, Total E&P Myanmar is actively taking part in relief efforts coordinated with NGOs on the ground, such as Save The Children and the Red Cross. Most of the aid provided is logistics-related, and includes a donation of 20,000 liters of fuel oil to Save The Children, overflights of the stricken areas using the Yadana joint venture’s helicopter for Save The Children, and the loan of the joint venture’s workboat to transport containers from Thailand for the French Red Cross and for the Isha Tanaka Association supported by Jane Birkin.
In addition, employee volunteers from the subsidiary have been helping disadvantaged communities near our offices in Yangon, distributing 14 tons of rice and four tons of lentils to 2,000 people, delivering drinking water, providing construction materials and rebuilding a school.
These relief efforts, funded by the subsidiary and the Yadana joint venture’s partners, amount to $200,000 to date. This is in addition to the $2 million Total earlier donated to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Total E&P Myanmar is also helping its own and contractor employees. A total of 865 people are receiving different forms of aid, such as food and drinking water, electricity thanks to portable generators, financial aid to help rebuild their homes, medicine, and information on water purification measures.
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Total Aids Cyclone Nargis Victims
May 7, 2008 |
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After the devastating passage of cyclone Nargis, Total is donating US$2 million to the emergency appeal launched by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. With its partners in the Yadana gas project, the Group is also preparing further donations to local humanitarian organizations and examining the various types of tangible assistance, such as logistical (vehicles and helicopter) and medical aid, that its presence in the country could facilitate.
Cyclone Nargis swept Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta region on Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May 3. Official estimates put the number of dead and missing in the tens of thousands.
Total would like to extend its deepest sympathy to all victims of this disaster.
The Group has nearly 300 employees in the country, on a production platform in the Andaman Sea, at gas pipeline facilities in the south near the border with Thailand, and in the Total E&P Myanmar offices in Yangon. None were injured or killed.
In addition to this emergency aid, Total and its local subsidiary will continue to provide assistance for the longer duration and help to support the reconstruction effort in this decimated region.
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Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar
May 6, 2008 |
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Cyclone Nargis devastated a number of regions in Myanmar between Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May 3.
The estimated official death toll is at least 22,000 people, while tens of thousands have been left homeless.
Total would like to extend its deepest sympathy to all victims of this disaster.
Having taken the necessary measures to ensure the safety of our employees and facilities, to our knowledge, no employees based at operating sites have been injured or killed. We are currently accounting for our Yangon-based personnel.
None of our facilities was significantly damaged.
In a sign of solidarity, Total and its subsidiary Total E&P Myanmar have already made resources available to help employees and is working with government officials and international organizations in the country to identify what kind of aid is most needed.
