The Japanese Government, under its Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) Scheme, has granted US$135,802 for a humanitarian assistance program “The Project for Strengthening of Fire Services on Local Airports in Myanmar”.

The handover ceremony of the project took place at the Yangon International Airport on 26th October 2015. H.E. U Han Sein, Deputy Union Minister for Transport, Acting Director General U Tike Aung, Ministry of Transport, Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), H.E. Mr. Tateshi HIGUCHI, Ambassador of Japan to Myanmar, and Mr. Ken HARUTA, Vice President, New Kansai International Airport Company, Ltd (NKIAC) attended the ceremony.

In cooperation with NKIAC, the project is aimed to improve the airport fire-fighting facilities of the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), Myanmar, which is one of the natural disaster-prone countries in South-east Asia, of which fire breakouts are the most frequent. Through the project, 2 fire engines and spare tires were donated by NKIAC. The fire engines’ transportation, maintenance and maintenance training fees were covered by the GGP scheme.

It was urgently necessary to upgrade the standard of fire rescue capacity and safety in case of airport emergency at the Mawlamyine Airport in Mon State and the Ann Airport in Rakhine State, which have no fire engines at all. Under such conditions, the GGP scheme in cooperation with NKIAC, supported one fire engine with a 12,500-liter foam extinguishing tank to Mawlamyine Airport, and one fire engine with a 3,000-liter foam extinguishing tank to Ann Airport. DCA will cooperate with each township fire department to also utilize the supported fire engines in case of fire incidents outside the airport when no airplane arrivals or departures are planned. The project will benefit 370,000 people and 1,128 air-passengers a month in Mawlamyine, and 50,000 people and 1,344 air-passengers a month in Ann, and improve the air network safety and disaster prevention of Myanmar.

The Government of Japan has assisted 731 various grass-roots projects in Myanmar under the GGP scheme since 1993; the number consisting of 331 education projects, 192 healthcare projects, 138 public welfare and environment projects, 35 infrastructure projects and 35 other projects. It is anticipated that these assistances will further strengthen the existing friendly relations between Japan and Myanmar.