Myanmar junta says "doing its best" after cyclone

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's junta is "doing its best" to help those hit by Cyclone Nargis, which killed at least 22,000 people and left 41,000 missing in the army-ruled Southeast Asian nation, Information Minister Kyaw Hsan said on Tuesday.

But he also admitted the authorities were struggling to cope with the disaster, the most devastating cyclone to hit Asia since one that ploughed into Bangladesh in 1991, killing 143,000 people.

In a stark reminder of the challenge facing the junta, a Thai military transport plane that flew in to Yangon with 9 tonnes of food and medicines had to be unloaded by hand because there were no fork-lift trucks, a Reuters cameraman on the plane said.

"The task is very wide and extensive and the government needs the cooperation of the people and well-wishers from at home and abroad," Kyaw Hsan said in a news conference in the rubble-strewn former capital, Yangon, where food and water are running short.

"We will not hide anything. Please ask the people not to be duped by rumors or fabrication," he said, adding that 5 billion kyats ($4.5 million) had been set aside in disaster aid.

The military, which has been in power since 1962 and is vilified by Western governments for suppressing political opposition, is even more unpopular than normal due its bloody suppression of protests led by Buddhist monks last September.

Thailand has already flown in nine tonnes of food and medicines, and India says two naval ships are loading with emergency supplies for immediate shipment to the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta.

Aid has been promised by a host of other countries including Singapore, China, the European Union and the United States, which has placed tough sanctions on the former Burma's ruling generals.

Two U.S. disaster experts are on standby in Bangkok to fly to Myanmar to assess the scale of the damage, although they are yet to receive permission to enter the country, a U.S. embassy official said.

Kyaw Hsan said a lack of electricity was hampering the restoration of the water supply in Yangon, but dozens of trucks were distributing water across the city of five million.

With the price of staple foods, building materials and fuel skyrocketing, he warned retailers against profiteering.

"We are coordinating and cooperating with private businessmen. We appeal to the entrepreneurs and businessmen not to cash in on the disaster," he said.

(Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Sanjeev Miglani)