In Vanuatu's case, they were trying to do a needs assessment by survey, but many of the NGOs had already done their own surveys. It would have been better if they had come to the Government and found what was needed first, he said.
"Then precious time could have been spent on co-ordination."
He said if the NGOs had worked with the Government, they could have finished the assessment by now. Instead, teams were still to land on some islands and a plan was not finalised.
Aid had yet to be distributed, despite arriving from countries such as New Zealand and Australia.
Asked if the NGOs worked that way because they had the experience, Shing pointed to the Solomon Islands and Haiti of examples where it had gone wrong.
He said it was "not efficient".
Unicef's Patrick Rose denied that the aid agency was simply there for publicity.
"We're there to help people. It's not about visibility." He said in the last couple of days the media had been asking NGO's and the government some awkward questions about where the aid was, and why it was not being distributed faster.
But it wasn't a case of handing things out willy-nilly - which could create inequality and chaos, he said.
"In these extreme situations people get impatient and the cracks start to show. We need to keep focused on the real goal of getting aid distributed to the people who need it."
He said the organisation worked closely with the government, as did other aid organisations.
"The government, the media and the people who are struggling with basic needs may be impatient with the pace of things but this is the way that it has to be done," Mr Rose said.
He added that Unicef was not operating as an NGO, but as part of the United Nations' response.
- additional reporting Susan Strongman
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