NAY PYI TAW November 27
Chairman of State Admini-stration Council Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, accompanied by wife Daw Kyu Kyu Hla, SAC Joint Secretary Lt-Gen Ye Win Oo and wife, Union ministers, the chief of General Staff (Army, Navy and Air) and wife, senior military officers from the Office of the Commander-in-Chief and their wives, paid homage to Mann Shwesettaw Pagoda in Minbu (Saku)Township, Minbu District, Magway Region, this morning.
The Senior General and party were welcomed by Magway Region Chief Minister U Tint Lwin, Commander of Central Command Maj-Gen Ko Ko Oo, Chairman of Pagoda Board of Trustees U Win Htay and mem-bers. The Senior General and wife and party paid homage to the Lower Buddha’s Footprint at Pada Pagoda, Mann Shwesettaw Pagoda and offered flowers, water and gold foils. The Senior General signed the visitor’s book and donated cash for all-round development of the pagoda to the board of trustees chairman and members, who presented back Dhamma gifts.
The Senior General instructed officials to build a temporary iron bailey bridge and a walkway that is higher than the water level of the creek, but not higher than the pagoda platform for the convenience of pilgrims, to build a retaining wall to control the water level, to keep the pagoda environment clean and tidy and to preserve the religious buildings.
The Senior General and wife and party arrived at Upper Settawya and offered flowers, water and gold foils to the pagoda. Cash donation was made for all-round renovation of the pagoda.
The Senior General looked around the pagoda and urged official to preserve the pagoda in its ancient architectural designs.
Led by Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, families of Tatmadaw (Army, Navy and Air) and other well-wishers donated a three-ton transparent glass cover, five feet high and three inches thick, on 10 July 2014 for the sustainability of Lower Buddha’s Footprint of Shwesettaw Pagoda, to protect the sacred religious object from natural disasters, and ensure year-round pilgrimage. Officials are carrying out the ongoing conservation work.
In the afternoon, the Senior General and party paid obeisance to Setkya Pandaung Pagoda in the compound of Ywa Oo Monastery, Thettha Pandaung Village, Legaing village-tract, Pwintphyu Township. After offering flower and water, they paid obeisance to the pagoda clockwise and donated cash for all-round renovation to members of the Board of Trustees.
At Legaing Village, the Se-nior General, accompanied by members of his entourage, inspected the renovated Shwe-pyayaye Pagoda and Dham-mayon and met local elders and people and discussed regional economy and progress. The Senior General presented Ks- 5 million to set up a village development fund through local elders.
The Senior General and party were welcomed by Pagoda Board of Trustees Chairman U Kyaw Thein and members on arrival at Shinpin Setkaingte Pagoda in Minbu. They paid homage and offered flowers and water to the Buddha Image and presented cash donation for the pagoda.
The Senior General met local elders of Minbu and Saku at Yadanathukha Dmammayon in the compound of the pagoda. Local elders introduced them-selves individually and reported on local business undertakings and requirements.
Regarding the reports, the Senior General said that it is to give encouragement to commodity production enterprises based on agriculture and live-stock farming for regional development. It is necessary to carry out tasks to generate solar power and pump water from rivers to ensure adequate cultivation water for agriculture. Pwintphyu has an institute of agriculture and a plan is underway to open an institute of live-stock. Imbalance in supply and demand and high production cost could cause a surge in commodities price. Therefore, encouragement must be given to commodity production enterprises based on local raw materials. It is to make efforts to get the commodities prices lower as much as we can do for import inputs necessary for agriculture.
It is necessary to decrease import items through making efforts to achieve development in manufacturing medical products, basic personal goods and foodstuff locally. Saving fuels will be helpful to less spending of foreign exchange as well as getting local financial perfor-mance stronger. Similarly, it is necessary to consume edible oil in a way to meet a healthy eating style. Regional development tasks could be speeded up more if the region is rich in academic-wise graduates.
Besides, it is required for local civil servants and people to work together in taking tasks for making the region clean and pleasant. There will be many arrivals of visitors to the region if the region is beautiful and pleasant and its products become well-known, which means that local financial performance will get stron-ger and the regional economy will be developed as well. The Senior General then made coordination on the needs for regional development.
Afterwards, the Senior General presented Ks-10 million for the fund of regional deve-lopment and donated Ks-10 million for building Minbu Home for the Aged through the community elders.
Then, the Senior General and party paid homage to the pagoda clockwise.
In the evening, the Senior General and wife and party visited Magway Myathalon Pagoda, the pride of Magway, where they were welcomed by members of the Board of Trustees of the Pagoda. The Senior General signed in the visitor’s record book. The Senior General and wife donated cash for the pagoda.
Later, the Senior General and party went to Strand Road in Magway, inspected arrangements for a neat and tidy public area and left necessary instructions.
