H.E. Mr. Tateshi HIGUCHI, Ambassador of Japan to Myanmar, and Chairpersons of the Construction Committees from Sagaing Region, Kayah State, Magway Region and Rakhine State signed the grant contracts for four projects today. Under these contracts, Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) Scheme will provide a total of US$ 549,441 as follows:

1. The Project for Construction of Nat Gyi Kone Village Basic Education Post Primary School in Kalay Township, Sagaing Region (USD 131,334)
2. The Project for Upgreading of Agricultural Road between Saung Kan Village and Saw Khee Daw Village in Loikaw Township, Kayah State (USD 167,754)
3. The Project for Construction of Chinpyitkaing Village Basic Education Primary School in Sidoktaya Township, Magway Region (USD 83,113)
4. The Project for Extension of Township Hospital and Upgrading of Medical Facilities in Kyauktaw Towsnhip, Rakhine State (USD 167,240)

The grant contracts for 1. and 3. aim to assist the two out of 493 flood affected schools requested by the Myanmar Government to the Japanese Government for the reconstruction and rehabilitation.

The building of Nat Gyi Kone Village Basic Education Post Primary was seriously deteriorated by the flood in July 2015 and demolished. Due to the shortage of classrooms, the school is facing a difficulty to accommodate students. Some students have been temporarily studying in a teacher’s quarter without partitions.To address this issue, the Japanese Government will support construction of a two-storey Reinforced Concrete Construction (R.C.C.) building with 8 classrooms and full furniture. The project will benefit 301 students and 8 teachers of the school.

As the current agricultural road is not paved well and becomes muddy during the rainly season, people in Saung Kan Village and Saw Khee Daw Village have been struggling in transporting their agricultural procucts, transferring patients to the nearest hospital in Loikaw Town and sending students to the high school. In order to tackle this challenge, the Japanese Government will support upgrading the 4.7 kilometer - long road with 4 culverts and construction of a 3 meter- long wooden bridge to connect the roads. The project will benefit 13,233 local residents in both villages.

Chinpyitkaing Village Basic Education Primary School is also one of the schools affected by the flood in July 2015. The school building was completely submerged by the flood, school furnitute and lavatories were also washed away. To solve this issue, the Japanese Government will support construction of a one-storey R.C.C building with 5 classrooms, full furniture, toilet and water supply. The project will benefit 36 students and 5 teachers of the school.

As Kyauktaw Township Hospital does not have enough patient wards, a large number of patients cannot be accomodated in the wards and are not treated well. Furthermore, most medical equipement are outdated and not functioning properly. To solve this issue, the Japanese Government will support construction of a one-storey R.C.C patients ward building with full furniture, toilet and water supply as well as 6 types of medical equipment. The project will benefit 222,000 local residents of the region.

The Government of Japan has assisted 801 various grass-roots projects in Myanmar under the GGP scheme since 1993: the number consisting of 391 education projects, 198 healthcare projects, 138 public welfare and environment projects, 41 infrastructure projects and 35 other projects. It is anticipated that these assistances will further strengthen the existing friendly relations between Japan and Myanmar.