The Government of Japan, under its Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) Scheme, has granted US$ 364,789 for the following 2 projects in Chin State:

1) The Project for Construction of Lailinpi Village Basic Education High School in Matupi Township, Chin State (US$ 198,287); and
2) The Project for Construction of Sakhai Village Basic Education Middle School in Matupi Township, Chin State (US$ 166,502).

The above 2 projects are to assist the schools out of 493 flood affected schools requested by the Government of Myanmar to the Government of Japan for the reconstruction and rehabilitation.

The handover ceremonies of new school buildings for these projects took place in Matupi Township on 25 and 27 April 2018 respectively. Mr. Keisuke AMIMOTO, Second Secretary of the Embassy of Japan, H.E. Pau Lun Min Thang, Minister for Social Affairs of Chin State, committee chairpersons, committee members of the construction projects, and local residents attended the ceremonies.

The old school building of Lailinpi Village Basic Education High School was destroyed due to the cyclone in July, 2015. The students were struggling to study in a congested classroom of the temporary building which is built with used timber. In order to secure a proper education environment for those students, the Government of Japan has provided funding for construction of a two-storeyed Reinforced Concrete (RC) building with 6 classrooms with full furniture. The project benefits 625 students of the school.

The school building of Sakhai Village Basic Education Middle School was also damaged due to the cyclone in July, 2015. Although the school building almost collapsed, the students had to keep studying in the building due to the insufficient number of classrooms. In order to address this challenge, the Government of Japan, under its GGP scheme, has provided funding for construction of one-storeyed RC building with 5 classrooms, full furniture, toilets and water supply. The project benefits 77 students of the school.

Japan experienced many natural disasters in the past. Accordingly, Japan has learnt the lessons from the past disasters and introduced the concept "Build Back Better" worldwide. "Build Back Better" is to reconstruct our society after a disaster, much better and stronger than before a disaster in order to reduce potential disaster risks. Based on this concept, the new school buildings which have been constructed under the GGP scheme have stronger structure than cyclone-affected buildings.

The Government of Japan has assisted 866 various grass-roots projects in Myanmar under the GGP scheme since 1993: the number consisting of 435 education projects, 201 healthcare projects, 140 public welfare and environment projects, 55 infrastructure projects and 35 other projects. It is expected that these assistances will further strengthen the existing friendly relations between Japan and Myanmar.