Yangon  - The Myanmar minister most responsible for handling the government's disaster relief efforts for victims of Cyclone Nargis has dropped his second job as immigration and population minister, state media announced on Friday.

Social Welfare Minister Major General Maung Maung Swe, who has been busy with cyclone relief efforts since Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar's central coast on May 2-3, has shed his secondary post Minister of Immigration and Resettlement, said Myanmar state radio.

The new Immigration Minister is Major General Saw Lwin, the former head of the Industry 2 Ministry which is now led by Lieutenant-General Soe Thein, the former Navy commander-in-Chief.

Observers said the ministerial switches seemed designed to allow Maung Maung Swe more time to concentrate on cyclone relief work.

The cyclone left more than 133,000 dead or missing and estimated 2.4 million in desperate need of food, water, shelter and medicines.

The initial weeks of disaster relief were hampered by the ruling junta's restrictions on international aid and aid workers entering the country.

The government has estimated it will need about 11 billion dollars in rehabilitation relief, although no real assessment of the damage done by the cyclone had yet been made.

Joint teams from the United Nations, Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Myanmar ministries are currently undertaking a thorough needs assessment of the cyclone-hit areas that should be made public next week. (dpa)