Ceremony to make cash donations by well-wishers for relief, rescue and rehabilitation at natural disaster-hit areas held
NAY PYI TAW May 20
A ceremony to make cash donations by well-wishers for relief, rescue and rehabilitation at the areas hit by severe cyclonic storm Mocha was held at Zeyathiri Beikman, Yangon Command HQ this morning, addressed by Chairman of State Administration Council Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
Present together with the Senior General were SAC Joint Secretary Lt-Gen Ye Win Oo, union ministers U Win Shein, U Khin Maung Yi, U Min Naung and U Myo Thant, Yangon Region Chief Minister U Soe Thein, Chief of General Staff (Army,Navy and Air) General Maung Maung Aye, Commander-in-Chief (Navy) Admiral Moe Aung, Commander-in-Chief (Air) General Tun Aung, senior military officers from the Office of the Commander-in-Chief, Yangon Command commander, officials and well-wishers.
First, the Senior General thanked donors for their generous contributions towards relief, rescue and rehabilitation activities at the areas hit by Mocha on 14 May. He said natural disasters are unpreventable. But preparatory measures and relief, rescue and rehabilitation in the aftermath of a storm must be planned in advance. The country faced bitter experiences during the cyclonic storm Nargis in 2008. Although the country faced some natural disasters during the two previous governments, they were not severe. Based on Nargis experience, the government in office took preparatory measures. As Myanmar is just a developing country, the government’s preparatory measures may not be fully comprehensive, but the government exerted efforts to the most possible degree. Tatmadaw also took preparatory measures a lot. Thanks to the advanced programs that included the use of slab roofs damage there was almost no damage. Cyclone shelters and multipurpose buildings were erected in coastal areas and Rakhine State, but they were not adequate.
Weather news reports and presentations of officials indicated a possible storm danger. The government was constantly and carefully monitoring the low depressions areas that were forming over the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. Fortunately, the one on the South China Sea dissipated. There were predictions that if the two merged they would enter Yangon and Sittoung river mouth from Taninthayi Coast. The government was so worried and issued warnings as the Sittaung River mouth has never faced a natural disaster. Luckily, only one storm entered Myanmar as the other disappeared.
Thanks to the precision of weather forecasting the government could issue a red warning in the shortest possible time. As preparatory measures can be taken in advance, evacuation programs could be carry out more easily. As evacuation programs can be conducted one day ahead of the storm’s landfall, casualty rate was very low. Mocha was more severe than Nargis as its wind speed was at 135 miles per hour. The Senior General said the areas he visited faced a lot of destruction.
He said an emergency meeting on natural disaster management was held on 15 May to assign duties to carry out natural disaster management, response, rescue, rehabilitation and cooperation in the aftermath. While the meeting was in progress, information about the well-wishers’ will to make donations for the storm-hit areas was received. Hence an emergency donation ceremony was held and Ks-13.181 billion was received. It was an indication of the generosity, sympathy, and loving kindness of Myanmar people.
The Senior General said he had witnessed the huge destruction caused by the storm at the affected areas. Rehabilitation task will take time and it needs a lot of manpower. Hence, members of Tatmadaw and Myanmar Police Force and departmental personnel sent to the areas to participate in the relief, rescue and rehabilitation programs with might and main.
The country has learned a lot from natural disasters and witnessed the good and bad consequences. In some cases damage is caused mainly due to human weaknesses. Inundation of the compounds of pagodas in Bagan ancient culture zone is due to the weakness in ensuring proper drainage system in advance. All must take it as a lesson to prevent such damages in the future.
Although they have some knowledge of the natural disasters, some people do not want to leave their homes. Though majority accepted the excavation program, some denied it. But certain fatalities occurred due to their stubbornness. People who moved to safe places remained unharmed. According to international estimation at the time when probability of storm’s landfall in Myanmar reached near cent per cent, the number of deaths and destruction could be extremely high. In fact, the degree of damage was high.
According to the statistics collected until the evening of May 19, a total of 183,024 houses, 1,711 religious buildings, 59 monasteries, 1,397 schools, 227 hospitals and clinics, 11 communication towers, 119 lamp posts, 5 transformers, one market, two airports: Sittwe Airport and Kyaukpyu Airport and 340 departmental buildings were damaged in various regions and states and 145 people died. Rehabilitation activities will be carried out.
It must be done with materials and money donated by donors, On May 15, during the visit to Sittwe, Rakhine State, Ks-7 billion of donations was handed to the state chief minister. Authorities have been instructed to make sure that people affected by natural disasters do not suffer any more deaths and there is no shortage of food first. After that, the Senior General ordered to give priority to restoring road connections. Ten vehicles and relief teams prepared to transport vehicles and relief supplies from the Pyay and Magway routes were sent overnight and arrived in Sittwe the next day. Due to the preliminary preparations, it was able to carry out relief operations on time.
In the same way, aid and relief materials were delivered on time by air. The advance preparation for the relief and rescue operations were able to be carried out in a short time because of the leadership of the Tatmadaw and the cooperation of the departmental organizations and the local people. It has been proved that due to being able to prepare in advance, the casualties and damages have been reduced a lot. Therefore, it was a great lesson for us.
We thanked the donors for their generous donations. Benevolence is the root. In the two years that have passed since 2020, economic downturns have occurred due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 disease and the political crisis. As a result of our efforts, the country’s economy improved to some extent in 2022 and further increased in 2023. However, we must continue to work for the development of the country’s economy. During this period, the country’s economy has recovered and the income has increased, so that this kind of donation can be made. Being able to donate a lot of money like this shows the economic strength of the country. Now, donations from other places have reached a total of about 20 billion. The Senior General expressed his sincere gratitude to the donors for their generous donations at this time of urgent need for the country.
We would like to say that we are ready to assist in the success of any business for the benefit of the nation. We are actually working for the good of the country. He expressed confidence that all citizens will be able to work and eat with peace of mind. We must do better than before in providing restoration work to the areas affected by the storm. Donations like this will give strength to the people of the areas affected by natural disasters. The state is effectively assisting the regions affected by natural disasters. Not only Rakhine State, but also some areas of Chin State will be assisted. In order to make the management more convenient and speedy in the restoration work, senior military officers are being sent. We believe that they will be able to carry out the restoration work quickly as they have experience. We would like to say that we need to make the restoration work during the period before the rain, so we are working hard. The donated money will be used effectively and I would like to reiterate that I am very grateful for today’s donations.
After that, the SAC Chairman presented certificates of appreciation to the donors who donated initial donations for relief and rehabilitation activities in the areas affected by natural disasters, on May 15. After that, the donors who attended today event donated money to be used for relief and rehabilitation activities in areas affected by natural disasters and the Senior General received them. After that, the SAC Chairman said that now international aid is also being provided. Just as India is sending aid and relief materials by ships, China is also sending food products from the border as an emergency, and Thailand will also send them coming Monday. In the same way, it was learned that the ASEAN (AHA) Centre will also send relief materials. We have received information that other international organizations will provide assistance. I would like to say that donations and materials donated from abroad and domestic will be used to help ensure that no one is left behind in the storm-affected areas. On behalf of the nation, I sincerely thanked all the organizations and individuals that donate today.
After the ceremony, the SAC Chairman and the members greeted the donors cordially. After that, they viewed the photos of damages in the areas affected by the natural disaster, donations and support from generous donors, delivery of supplies to areas affected by natural disasters and the relief and rehabilitation activities being carried out due to the severe cyclonic storm “Mocha”.
At the donation ceremony held today, donors donated Ks-8,717,539,500, one million Thai baht, 100,000 sheets of tin and related roofing materials worth Ks-1.5 billion, and noodles, biscuits and clean water equivalent to 100,000 yuan. Therefore, the total amount of money donated by donors on May 15 was Ks-13.181 billion, and this time, the total amount of donations from generous donors is over Ks-21.8985 billion.