Aid workers hopeful of entering Burma

Now is not the time for politics with Burma's people suffering in the wake of cyclone Nargis and the situation too urgent, an international aid worker says.

Sarah Ireland, Oxfam's regional director for East Asia, says agencies have been working with United Nations officials to try to encourage Burmese authorities to "open up a bit".

"Clearly, for those people who are on the ground to try and deliver aid and, of course, for the hundreds of thousands of people who are suffering, they are not really interested in the negotiations. They are interested in action," Ms Ireland said.

"This isn't the time for politics, so we are just trying to concentrate on helping those people."

About 100,000 people are feared to have been killed and at least 1.5 million people left homeless after south Burma was devastated by cyclone Nargis.

But Burma's military authorities are refusing to accept international help.

Ms Ireland said that while it was difficult to tell when they would be allowed into the country, she remained optimistic.

"Maybe tomorrow we'll wake up and things will be different. And we can then get on with what we do best," she added.

Ms Ireland is part of an Oxfam team of 10 - including two Australians - in the Thai capital Bangkok waiting for permission to enter Burma.

Other Oxfam crews around the world are also awaiting approval, she said.

More than one week after the cyclone hit, Ms Ireland said, the aid organisation was worried about those without access to clean water and basic sanitary equipment.

"Those people living in the delta area are already poor and are going to be much more susceptible to diseases," she said.

Oxfam has equipment ready to go, including water purification tablets, plastic sheeting and buckets, to assist those affected by the cyclone once Burmese authorities grant permission to enter the country, she added.