Nay Pyi Taw April 24
Chairman of State Administration Council Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, accompanied by SAC Joint Secretary General Ye Win Oo, union ministers, the Nay Pyi Taw Council chair and other members of the entourage, inspected the National Library (Nay Pyi Taw), damaged by the Mandalay earthquake, and gave necessary directives this afternoon.
First, the Senior General and party looked around the library building, the room where a collection of the literary works of Alinka Kyawswa Sithu Tekka-tho Myat Thu are displayed, electronic library and reading room, Wunzin Minyaza Hall, rooms where bookshelves are placed, palm leave treatise section in the library, interior damage and preservation of books category wise. The Union Minister for Religious Affairs and Culture and officials presented reports on the scope of damage.
In response, the Senior General spoke of the need to protect the books by systematically keeping and recording them category-wise. Repair and renovation work must be continued. In fact, libraries are a valuable place and a kind of university where ardent learners can hunt for knowledge freely. Hence, the library should keep valuable compilationson the genuine facts about the country’s political developments throughout history. As posterity should know the authentic facts about political history, officials must protect and keep them throughout the different periods. The Senior General also looked into the other requirements.
The Senior General presented cash awards for the library staff through an official.
In the evening, the Senior General and party inspected damage at the platform of Uppatasanti Pagoda and religious buildings.
During the inspection of cracks that occurred at some places of the platform, structural subsidence, and affected religious buildings the Senior General heard a report on the extent of damage presented by officials. In response,he spoke of the need to systematically repair the damaged parts of the platform, retaining walls and religious buildings at the earliest possible time. Repair work must be completed to the most possible degree before the arrival of monsoon, and well-wishers should be invited to make contributions towards the repair work and all-round renovation task.
The Senior General and party paid homage and offered flowers, water to the Buddha Image inside the pagoda cave. They then fed the white elephants at the place where they are residing.
Groundbreaking ceremony of the pagoda was held in 2006. The foundation was systematically laid with 440 bored piles, each with a one-meter diameter, as per the engineering calculations. Hence, the recent earthquake caused only some slight damages at the pagoda. The powerful earthquake caused cracks, subsidence at some parts of the platform and the repair work is in progress for earliest completion of the work. People can make donations to the repair and all-round renovation of the damaged parts of the platform and religious buildings.
