H.E. Mr. Tateshi HIGUCHI, Ambassador of Japan to Myanmar, and Chairpersons of the Construction Committees from the States and Region concerned signed the grant contracts for five projects on December 8, 2017. The Government of Japan, under Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) Scheme, will provide a total of US$ 672,889 as follows:

1. The Project for Construction of Kone Waing Gyi Village Basic Education Post Primary School in Daik-U Township, Bago Region (USD 130,506);
2. The Project for Upgrading of Ah Htet Zaing Ga Naing Gyi Village Tract Road in Bago Township, Bago Region (USD 171,817);
3. The Project for Upgrading of Road between Hpa Yar Kone Village and Ko Tar Hoe Village in Hlaingbwe Township, Kayin State (USD 101,522);
4. The Project for Construction of Myauk Chaw Kone Village Basic Education Branch Middle School in Daik-U Township, Bago Region (USD 105,110); and
5. The Project for Construction of Zay Thit Basic Education Branch High School in Hakha Township, Chin State (USD 163,934).

The first floor of the Kone Waing Gyi Village Basic Education Post Primary School building was destroyed by the strong wind in 2004 and the community repaired it. Local residents contributed their efforts for constructing a temporary school building, since the school building has decayed and the number of students has increased. Students from 4 grades are studying in 2 congested classrooms in the temporary school building. In order to provide an appropriate educational environment, the Government of Japan will support construction of a two-storey Reinforced Concrete Construction (R.C.C.) building with 8 classrooms and full furniture. The project will benefit 138 students of the school.

There are 8 villages in Ah Htet Zaing Ga Naing Gyi village tract and 5 villages have only primary schools. School children have to go to Bago for their middle and high school education. In rainy season, the road is muddy, getting worse and school children have to walk about 4 hours for back and forth trips, thus about 40 % of the students cannot continue their middle school education and their studies end up. For the emergency patients, local residents have to rely on Bago hospital. In rainy season, patients are carried by men to the hospital and sometimes late to receive proper medical treatment. In order to address these issues, the Government of Japan will support upgrading of the 4.14 km long road with one small bridge and 2 concrete box culverts. The project will benefit 3,237 local residents from 8 villages.

The road between Hpa Yar Kone Village and Ko Tar Hoe Village is an earthen road which is accessible only in dry seasons and very difficult to access in rainy season as the road becomes muddy and damaged. Even motorbikes are difficult to travel in rainy season. Because of the poor transportation, communities cannot transport and sell their monsoon agriculture products to other places and reduce families’ income, consequently. In order to tackle these issues, the Government of Japan will support upgrading of the 4.8 km long road and the project will benefit 5,432 local residents from 7 villages.

Myauk Chaw Kone village Basic Education Branch Middle School does not have enough space to accommodate all the students. The main building is decaying and does not have partition. Therefore, students are difficult to concentrate on their study. Local residents constructed temporary school building roofed with palm leaves and walled with bamboo mats and students are suffering from the bad weather. The students who are learning in the temporary building, have to move to main building and another building to study in congested rooms together with the other classes. In order to provide an appropriate educational environment, the Government of Japan will support construction of a two-storey R.C.C building with 6 classrooms and full furniture. The project will benefit 139 students of the school.

The number of students has increased after academic year to academic year in Zay Thit Basic Education Branch High School. The school has constructed three temporary school buildings in 2016-17 and 2017-18 academic years. For temporary school buildings, Tarpaulins are used for roofing and walling and students are studying under unbalanced weather conditions. In winter season, the temperature goes down to 10 degree centigrade and students are studying under the extreme weather condition. In order to provide an appropriate educational environment, the Government of Japan will support construction of a two-storey R.C.C building with 8 classrooms and full furniture. The project will benefit 1,208 students of the school.

The Government of Japan has assisted 833 various grass-roots projects in Myanmar under the GGP scheme since 1993: the number consisting of 406 education projects, 199 healthcare projects, 139 public welfare and environment projects, 54 infrastructure projects and 35 other projects. It is anticipated that these assistances will further strengthen the existing friendly relations between Japan and Myanmar.