Civilian trucks forced to carry relief goods

_{By Hawkeye/ Lieng Lern}

The forced transportation started on 9 May.
 
"Burmese military stopped the incoming trucks and forced them to carry food, clothes and other materials to Rangoon. Currently, food and commodities such as salt is very expensive because the cyclone had destroyed the salt mines," the source said.
 
During the past few days, commodity prices have increased dramatically in Kunhing Township, 140 miles east of Taunggyi:
                Before                                                   Now                                                
Gasoline          K 200,000 ($160) per barrel                K 350,000($280)
Salt                 K 2,000 (1.6)   per viss                       K 5,000($4)
Rice                K 18,000 ($14.4) per pack                  K 22,000($17.6)
Cooking oil      K 3,000 ($2.4) per viss                       K 6,000 ($4.8)
 
Cyclone Nargis hit Burma on 2-3 May. At least 100,000 people were believed to have been killed and millions homeless. Thousands of lives could have been saved if the military regime did not ignore the warning given by the Indian Meteorological Department 48 hours in advance about the likely area of landfall as well as time and intensity of the cyclone, say critics.