The Government of Japan, under its Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) Scheme, has granted US$ 438,560 for

1) The Project for Construction of Shwe Ze Ti Monastic High School in Sittwe Township, Rakhine State (US$ 136,356);
2) The Project for Construction of Kun Taung Village Rural Health Center in Ponnagyun Township, Rakhine State (US$ 101,335); and
3) The Project for Extension of Township Hospital and Upgrading of Medical Facilities in Rathedaung Township, Rakhine State (US$ 200,869).

The handover ceremonies of one school, one Rural Health Center and one hospital for the above 3 projects took place in Sittwe, Ponnagyun and Rathedaung Townships in Rakhine State on 11 and 12 December 2018. Mr. Toru MAEDA, Minister/Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Japan, committee chairpersons, committee members of the construction projects, and local residents attended the ceremonies.

Shwe Ze Ti Monastic High School is located in Sittwe Township. As the number of the students has been increasing year by year, existing school building and religious building could not accommodate all the students due to the lack of facilities. Therefore, students had to study in two shifts, morning class and afternoon class and were behind the school curriculum. In order to provide an appropriate educational environment, the Government of Japan, under its GGP scheme, has provided funding for construction of a three-storey reinforced concrete building with 9 classrooms, full furniture, lavatories and water supply. The project benefits 1,195 students of the school.

The Rural Health Center (RHC) in Kun Taung Village was established in 1984 and has provided healthcare services for the people of surrounding 29 villages. However, the patients were exposed to wind and rain during the consultation with medical staffs since the building seriously was decaying. Moreover, the center faced the lack of staff quarters as well as medical equipment. To tackle these issues, the Government of Japan, under its GGP scheme, provided funding for construction of a one-storey reinforced concrete rural health center building and a staff quarter with full furniture and 18 items of medical equipment. The project will benefit 23,248 residents of 29 villages.

Rathedaung Township Hospital is a general hospital serving a population of 168,400 in this area. However, the hospital faced the lack of medical equipment, consultation room and bedroom. Therefore, the waiting room was always full of people and patients’ beds were placed on the corridor. In order to provide an appropriate health care environment, the Government of Japan, under its GGP scheme, provided funding for construction of a one-storey reinforced concrete hospital ward with full furniture, walkway, generator and 9 items of medical equipment. The project will benefit 168,400 residents of Rathedaung Township.

The Government of Japan has assisted 880 various grass-roots projects in Myanmar under the GGP scheme since 1993: the number consisting of 450 education projects, 200 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.