Yangon Mayor Maung Maung Soe said the city’s public buildings would be tested to see if they were resistant to earthquakes.
He addressed Yangon Region parliament on Thursday in reply to MP Thein Myint of Tamwe who raised a question on Yangon’s quake resistance.
The MP said: “Some buildings were not built in line with the law and quality standards that can withstand earthquake in the past 50 years. The authorities had flaws when testing the buildings’ quake resistance.”
The mayor replied: “We’re planning to form a committee studying precautions against earthquake and natural disasters. Experts from technological, engineering, seismological and geological sectors and officials from social welfare and health ministries, meteorology and hydrology department and general administration departments will cooperate. The Yangon City Development Committee will take the lead.”
The developers have been instructed to build quake-resistant buildings since 2010. They were also urged to use a wind-load resistance design if the building had more than six floors.
“We’ll test stadiums and landmark buildings to see whether they can be used as earthquake shelters. The public will be informed which buildings can withstand earthquakes and which cannot. We’ll start with the six most populated townships,” he added.
United Nations Development Programmes and Japan International Cooperation Agency has given financial and technical aid.
The committee will prioritise hospitals, clinics, fire departments, schools, religious buildings and bridge
Source: Eleven Myanmar
