HOUSE OF THE WEEK

Warm single-storey house in Thingangyun

UNCOMPLICATED suburban living sums up this single-level house in Thingangyun township. The house is not overly spacious but there is a nice garden and lawn as compensation. more

Yangon Weather Forecast, Burma

In Hainggyi Island, villagers more prepared to face disaster

HAINGGYI Island, at the southwestern tip of Ayeyarwady Division and of the country, was the first place in Myanmar to feel the fury of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008. More than 100,000 people lost their lives in Ayeyarwady and Yangon divisions because villagers lacked the means to protect themselves against natural disaster.

Now, the residents of Hainggyi Island township feel more prepared to face the danger of natural disaster. With the help of an international non-government organisation, World Vision, they have strengthened their infrastructure and communications and improved organisation, villagers said.

“World Vision Myanmar gave us a telephone, radios and a loudspeaker, and built a bridge and a road. They also trained us in disaster risk reduction (DRR),” U Nyunt Thaung, a village leader of San Kyi village in Hainggyi Island township, said.

“We feel safer after getting them because we can get weather reports from the radio and confirm them by telephone,” U Nyunt Thaung said.

“The training gave us knowledge about disaster risk awareness and preparedness. We’ve formed disaster management committees in the village,” he said. The village has formed committees for information, safety and rescue, first aid, and administration for disasters.

“When the information committee gets a report of a potential disaster, the village heads will spread the news. Villagers will prepare food and water and put important documents such as family lists and identity cards in a safe place,” U Nyunt Thaung explained.

“If the disaster happens, the safety and rescue committee will move old people and children to safe places and give the injured first aid,” he added.

“Last rainy season, we got a report from the radio that there was a storm in the sea (Bay of Bengal). We alerted the villagers, and they stored their documents and assembled food and drinking water,” U Nyunt Thaung said. “We are more prepared now for disasters and we feel safer.”

Yay Kyaw village in Hainggyi Island township built an embankment to check the erosion that threatened houses on the riverbank.

“The road was about 20 feet (6 metres) wider before the erosion. Now it’s too narrow for social events like donations or funeral processions,” U Sin Nyein, from Yay Kyaw village, said.

“The erosion began after trees were knocked down by the Gwa storm in 1982. In 1991, we tried to build an embankment but we didn’t have the technology or the money,” U Sin Nyein said.

“In the 2004 tsunami, bank erosion was very bad. It’s not safe for children and old people to walk there,” said U Sin Nyein.
After Nargis, villagers asked World Vision for help. The embankment is 216 metres (720 feet) long and cost K55.3 million, or about US$55,000, of which the village contributed K3 million.

“I am very pleased with it. Children can play safely and old people can without fear,” said U Sin Nyein.

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