Palace of Hsenwi Sawbwa to be restored

The palace of Hsenwi Sawbwa seen at Hsenwi town, northern Shan State.

The palace of Hsenwi Sawbwa and culture heritage will be restored in Hsenwi town, northern Shan state to boost the number of tourists, it is learnt.

“If we can restore such culture heritage, most of the tourists will come and visit there. Our region can earn the revenue from the tourists. Our local people who are selling the traditional food and handicrafts will get the job opportunities. We will restore Shan palace and culture heritage with the aim of developing our region,” said Daw Nan Khin Htar Yee, Shan state Hluttaw MP from Constituency 1 in Hsenwi township.

“I just know that Hsenwi has many culture heritages. I am proud to be a resident of. I want to invite all of you to visit our town,” said Ma Nan Yin Kyawt, a local resident from Hsenwi town.

There is a well the water of which does not run out of the whole year in the compound of five-tier monastery. Moreover, there are many traditional foods of Hsenwi town, Shan palace and graveyard and, waterfall.

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

Chief Minister: Yangon bus line will meet international standards by 2018

​Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein said the Yangon Bus Service system will be upgraded to an international standard by the beginning of next year.

“The regional government is working on upgrading the system after a new city bus system was changed. We will have a system similar to what is being practiced internationally by January 2018,” he said at a press conference yesterday in the Yangon Region Government Office.
As a part of the upgrade, old city buses were replaced with modern vehicles, with GPS systems to be installed that will be operated by the Control Centre. Also, a prepaid card payment system will be practiced. All the buses will also be installed with CCTV.
The government is now bidding a tender to upgrade bus stops, according to the Yangon Region Bus Supervisory Authority.
“We are behind when compared to other countries. We see it as an opportunity to change the city bus system by getting the latest technology. In the card payment system, one card can be used in buses, trains, water transport and purchasing,” said U Phyo Min Thein.
The government is now assessing the YBS system for three months and will change to a public bus service in 2017.
“We all know how we will benefit from the bus service, as the demand is so high. I warn the bus owners who breach the rules, they could be terminated,” he warned.
Today, some city travellers still experience inconvenience in taking the bus, although the government introduced the new bus system on 16 January to reduce the heavy congestion in Yangon.
“The night buses are travelling half of the route because they need more gasoline. I have difficulties when the buses rarely go to my destination,’ said Ma Nu Nu Lwin, who lives in Shwe Pyi Thar Township on the outskirts of Yangon and regularly takes No. 65 bus.
There are currently 79 bus lines operated by 3,500 buses in Yangon to transport 2.5 million people daily. After changing to a new bus system, the government received 286 complaint letters in February, mostly about the No. 6 bus line, No. 36 lines and No. 65 bus line. Two-hundred thirty-four complaint letters were received, mostly about the No. 7 bus line, No. 40 bus line and No. 41 bus line.

Ko Moe

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

New Nyaung Chaung Thar beach open

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File photo shows the sunset over the Ayeyawady river.

New Nyaung Chaung Thar Beach, which does not allow the beach-goers to stay overnight, was opened in Nyaungdon township, Ayeyawaday region on Wednesday, it is learnt.
“Nyaung Chuang Thar Beach, which was opened in 2012, was moved to a place near Bo Myat Tun and Ayeyawady (Nyaungdon) bridges because there was a high risk of death from drowning,” said a Hluttaw representative form Nyaungdon township, Ayeyawady region.
“The old Nyaung Chaung Thar Beach is very deep. It is dangerous for the visitors. We have chosen the sand flat where the visitors can bathe in the water safely and where visitors from Yangon and Pathein can make a day’s trip,” said Daw Ni Ni Moe, Ayeyawady region Hluttaw representative.
“Nyaung Chuang Thar Beach is open from 5 January to 31 May. We have allowed 60 shops to open around the beach,” said an employee from Nyaungdon township development affairs department.
“The new Nyaung Chaugn Thar Beach is under the control of the Nyaungdon township development affairs department.

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

Meinmahla Kyun Wildlife designated as third Ramsar

Designation of the Meinmahla Kyun Wildlife Sanctuary as the third Ramsar site was announced at a ceremony on World Wetlands Day, which was held at the Moeyungyi Inn Wildlife Sanctuary yesterday, organized by the Forestry Department, the Norway Environmental Agency (NEA) and Shwe Pyi Aye Company.

Myanmar wetland areas protect coastal ecosystems including mangroves, mudflats and turtle nesting beaches. It is also important for development of the country and stability of weather conditions. Attempts were made in the past to maintain the wetlands sanctuary, the standard of the sanctuary declined in part because of inadequacy of environmental safety arrangements.

Mr. Frank Momberg, director of Fauna & Flora International (FFI) Myanmar programme, said the forestry department with the assistance of FFI designated a Ramsar site which covers the mangroves on Meinmahla Island and the surrounding estuary, which provides important feeding and nursing grounds for fisheries and protects coastal communities form storms. The site also includes mudflats of global conservation importance, particularly for threatened shore birds. Despite the severe threats, Meinmahla Kyun hosts the world’s largest population of the critically endangered mangrove plant species, threatened migratory bird species and more than 20 species of threatened fauna.

Indawgyi lake is Myanmar’s second Ramsar site, which is located in Mohnyin township in the Kachin state in 2015. The country’s first Ramsar site was Moeyungyi Wetland in Bago region, designated in 2004. There are now three listed Ramsar sites in Myanmar, accomplished with the assistance of Switzerland. Additionally, there are 14 places in Thailand, four places in Cambodia, eight places in Viet Nam and two places in Laos.

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar

Plans to make Bagan UNESCO World Heritage site under study

UNESCO will conduct a site inspection of Bagan throughout 2018. Photo: Staff

A draft plan including three out of six criteria needed to propose Bagan as one of the World Heritage sites will be submitted to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in September, said U Thein Lwin, deputy director general of the Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library.

“We are now drafting a proposal to attain the World Heritage status, which we will try to submit to UNESCO this September. We will have a response from them by January 2018 notifying us of what further data needs to be submitted. After providing the necessary data we can then proceed to a final nomination,” he said.

The draft proposal is now being drawn by two teams based on various suggestions. UNESCO will carry out a site inspection of Bagan throughout 2018, and the decision to list it as a World Heritage site will be made in 2019, he added.

“After putting up the proposal, we will meet with residents in Bagan and try to explain to them how it would be beneficial for them if Bagan becomes a World Heritage site. We have to make them understand the prestige gained by being listed as World Heritage status. We also have to explain to them the rules and regulations that all of us should abide by,” said U Thein Lwin.

Although Bagan was nominated to be listed as a World Heritage in 1996, the first attempt was not successful due to mismanagement and the fact that Bagan was not recognised as an ancient cultural zone at that time.

After earthquake, Bagan knuckles down on restoration, heritage bid

“If Bagan gets enlisted as a World Heritage status, there would be more foreign visitors resulting in an increase in foreign earnings. But we need to ensure proper preparations are being made. We are seeking to attain a World Heritage status, but before doing it we need to make a thorough assessment. Or else we would be just wasting our time, if the submission is incomplete. I think it’s too early to put up a proposal,” said U Soe Lin, a resident from Nyaung-U.

The ancient city of Pyu became the first World Heritage site in Myanmar after UNESCO recognised it as one in 2014.

Among the six criteria required to become a UNESCO World Heritage status are whether residents in the area value the site or not, whether the site is famous worldwide, and whether the area is beneficial for the present and future generations.

Translation by Zar Zar Soe

Source : Myanmar Times

Mytel to target rual areas and compete on price

U Zaw Min Oo speaks at the Mytel press conference. Photo: Aung Kyaw Nyunt / The Myanmar Times

Mytel is made up of Vietnam defence ministry owned-firm Viettel, a consortium of 11 local firms and a subsidiary of military-run Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) called Star High Public Company.

MEC also owns operator MECtel, and Mytel will make use of that operator’s existing infrastructure, said U Zaw Min Oo, Mytel’s external relations officer. Details of the infrastructure were unavailable, but telecom industry sources told The Myanmar Times last year that Star High Public Company had access to 1000 towers and more than 13,000 kilometres (8100 miles) of fibre, among other telecoms assets.

Mytel, which received Myanmar’s fourth telecoms licence on January 12, will also use the AAE 1 (Asia-Africa-Europe) submarine cable “so we will not have to worry about internet bandwidth”, said U Zaw Min Oo.

AAE 1 is owned by a consortium of international carriers, with MPT acting as a “co-landing party” for the cable’s connection to Myanmar, according to a senior technical manager at MPT, who asked to remain anonymous.

MPT is not participating directly in AAE 1, however, and does not plan to make use of the cable for additional bandwidth, the technical manager said. But MPT is part of the consortium that built the 20,000 kilometer Southeast Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 5 cable, which was finished late last year.

Mytel, meanwhile, will concentrate on extending their coverage in rural areas and will offer 2G, 3G and 4G services, said U Zaw Min Oo. As far as business plans go, the new firm seems intent on competing on cost.

“Now operators are racing [to compete] with price or services charges,” he said. “So I think that we should reduce services charges [to be less] than other operators, although we cannot announce prices yet.”

Telenor and MPT both still offer 2G services, while Oordeoo entered the market with 3G. All three operators also offer 3G and a limited 4G service.

Source : Myanmar Times

Ayeyawady dolphins population to be updated

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ayeyawady dolphins population to be updated.

To prevent the extinction of dolphins and to update their population in Ayeyawady River between Bhamo and Mandalay, a survey will be conducted by the Fisheries Department together with Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), said U Han Win, a Dolphin Specialist from Mandalay Fisheries Department.
According to 2016 February data, there were 65 dolphins in Mandalay and Bhamo towns, three died within 2016.
“The Ayeyawady dolphins are listed as scarce species. We will update the population of dolphin this year because we want to know the exact number of dolphins to prevent their extinction, he added.
Although there are 25 dolphins in Mandalay area and 40 dolphins in Bhamo town, three dolphins died: one on 15 August, the other on 13 September and the third one on 13 November.
“Data will be collected with the use of a small boat and a ship. When they are searching the dolphin, they will use the GPS system, 7×50 mm lens, depth meter, sounder and cameras,” said the WCS manager. The Ayeyawady dolphins will come up to the water surface every 30 to 60 secs. The Ayeyawady dolphins do not jump like the sea dolphins, they only swim slowly, it is learnt.

Aung Thant Khine

Source : Global New Light of Myanmar