OFFICIAL PORTAL
PRIME MINISTER'S DEPARTMENT
NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT AGENCY
PRIME MINISTER'S DEPARTMENT
NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT AGENCY
WHEN a massive earthquake hit Myanmar last month, centuries of sacred history tumbled down – towering Buddha idols, sky-scraping stupas and the pure-white pagoda where 83-year-old Khin Sein has prayed for most of her life.
The magnitude-7.7 tremor razed Nagayon Pagoda in the central city of Mandalay, Myanmar's last royal capital where ancient heritage was decimated in the disaster which claimed more than 3,700 lives.
For around 200 years, the temple was adorned with a carving of a sacred serpent said to have shielded the Buddha from the elements after his enlightenment.
The quake that struck one month ago on Monday reduced it to a heap of shapeless masonry, half burying the snake's bowing head.
"I cried out to pray that Nagayon Pagoda would save me when the quake started," said Khin Sein. "But my son told me that the pagoda was already gone."
"I don't think any bricklayer or architect could rebuild it the same as it once was," she told AFP, her eyes welling with tears as she paced the perimeter of the temple where she had prayed for 51 years.
"I want the original back but I know it's not possible."
The March 28 quake has left more than 60,000 people living in tent encampments, according to the United Nations, and pushed two million people into "critical need" in a country already devastated by civil war since a 2021 coup.
As the ground sheared up to six metres (20 feet), more than 3,000 monasteries and nunneries were destroyed alongside more than 5,000 pagodas, the ruling junta says.
Myanmar's second city of Mandalay and the adjacent cities of Sagaing and Inwa, dotted around the quake's epicentre, are all ancient seats of power, steeped in history and now pockmarked with ruins.
Cultural capital Mandalay was where the British captured the country's last king in 1885, beginning colonial rule of the whole nation.
The Royal Palace's crenellations have crumbled in places with ornate bastions collapsed askew.
A one-kilometre colonial-era bridge has collapsed into the Irrawaddy River towards Sagaing, where the horizon was once prickled with pinnacles of pagodas and stupas now contorted or simply gone.
Inwa served as capital for nearly 360 years until it was abandoned after a magnitude-8.2 quake struck in 1839.
Three quarters of the historic buildings inside its ancient cultural heritage zone were damaged in this year's jolt, officials say.
Thu Nanda has come to visit what remains of Me Nu Brick Monastery.
Built in 1818, entire portions of its gleaming north and west wings have been devastated, its gold filigree exterior cracked with terracotta-colour innards spilling out.
"The old things are the most valuable," said Thu Nanda, a 49-year-old monk. "The loss of historic heritage is breaking our hearts."
"Even if we are able to repair it, people will not be able to feel it in its original form. Old is just old. It cannot be restored," he said. "I think the loss of our heritage affects not only our country but also the world."
Myanmar is still grappling with the recovery of human remains from the ruins and the oncoming summer monsoon season. Heavy rains are already forecast this week as thousands mark one month camped outside.
While surveyors have investigated damage to historic buildings, reconstruction efforts are focused on aiding the living victims with little thought yet for the restoration of heritage landmarks.
Myanmar has seen more than its fair share of destruction. The four-year war has made air strikes and sieges of urban centres commonplace.
Thousands have been killed, 3.5 million are displaced and half the population now live in poverty.
Nonetheless Thein Myint Ko, surveying the three-centuries-old Lawka Tharaphu Pagoda, says: "I have never experienced such tragedy in my 65 years alive."
He serves on the board of trustees of a building largely ruined by the force of the quake.
Its gold stupa was cracked like eggshells, and now volunteer workers from a nearby village spade at the dusty remnants beneath. "I feel devastated," said Thein Myint Ko.
But what was left unscathed has become more precious to the annals of Myanmar.
Somehow a monumental eight-metre marble statue of the Buddha is largely undamaged – its gold halo shattered and a crack at its base, but its serene expression unperturbed.
"No one was injured and the Buddha image survived," said one man clearing rubble at the feet of the statue. "It is such a blessed pagoda."
* The writer is from AFP
TOKYO: A structural collapse occurred at a demolition site in an industrial area in Japan's Kawasaki City on Monday (April 28), injuring four workers and leaving one trapped.
At around 9:30 a.m. local time, emergency services received reports of the structural collapse. Firefighters and police rushed to the scene and found that part of the structure being dismantled had collapsed, involving five workers in total, national broadcaster NHK reported.
According to police, four of the five workers have been rescued. One suffered serious injuries while three sustained minor injuries.
The remaining worker is believed to have fallen into the basement level and is still awaiting rescue efforts, according to the report.
The site is located in a reclaimed area of the Keihin Industrial Zone, surrounded by logistics warehouses and other industrial facilities.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the accident. - Xinhua
PENDANG – Suasana meriah bagi persiapan Majlis Rumah Terbuka Aidilfitri daerah Pendang di dataran Tasik Pendang, di sini bertukar cemas selepas kira-kira tujuh khemah vendor di situ terbalik akibat ribut dan hujan lebat dalam kejadian malam tadi.
Wakil vendor 1 Minute Miracle, Siti Nurhanim Mohd Norizan, 25, berkata, kejadian disedari berlaku kira-kira pukul 7.45 malam ketika kebanyakan vendor sedang sibuk membuat persediaan akhir sebelum majlis bermula pada pukul 8 malam.
“Semasa kejadian saya sedang membuat siaran langsung di media sosial manakala rakan-rakan lain sedang sibuk membancuh air balang untuk tetamu majlis tersebut.
“Ketika itu cuaca agak mendung sebelum tiba-tiba berlaku ribut dan angin kuat mengangkat khemah kami dan beberapa khemah vendor lain,” katanya di sini, hari ini.
Sementara itu, Pegawai Angkatan Pertahanan Awam (APM) Daerah Pendang, Leftenan (PA) Yuslina Yusoff berkata, kejadian ribut yang berlaku kira-kira pukul 7.45 malam itu menyebabkan tujuh khemah vendor terbalik dan mengalami kerosakan.
“Selain itu, terdapat sebuah kereta milik Pegawai Veterinar Daerah Pendang turut mengalami kerosakan teruk akibat dihempap khemah. Walau bagaimanapun semua orang yang berada di lokasi kejadian dilaporkan selamat dan tiada sebarang kecederaan yang dilaporkan,” ujarnya.- KOSMO! ONLINE
SHAH ALAM: Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran (JPS) membentangkan pelan tindakan dan langkah segera bagi menangani isu banjir di tiga kawasan kritikal di Selangor.
Kawasan itu melibatkan Taman Sri Muda, Shah Alam; Meru, Klang dan Taman Seri Alam, Sungai Buloh.
Exco Infrastruktur dan Pertanian negeri, Datuk Izham Hashim berkata, beliau mempengerusikan mesyuarat koordinasi khas bersama JPS dan pihak terlibat bagi membincangkan isu itu semalam.
Jelas beliau, JPS membentangkan perancangan jangka masa panjang, sederhana dan langkah bagi menangani isu banjir di tiga kawasan tersebut.
“Saya tekankan berkali-kali bahawa kerajaan Persekutuan dan kerajaan negeri sedang membuat pelbagai langkah mitigasi banjir jangka panjang sebagai penyelesaian muktamad banjir. Namun, langkah segera yang boleh diselesaikan dalam masa beberapa hari mesti dilaksanakan sedaya upaya,” katanya hari ini.
Menurut Izham, langkah penyelesaian segera banjir di Meru antaranya melibatkan penyelenggaraan parit atau longkang tidak bertuan.
“Selain itu, ia meliputi pemasangan ‘Flap Gate’ di Sungai Binjai dan mengaktifkan operasi ‘booster pump’ di lokasi sama. Pengalihan utiliti di dalam sungai itu turut akan dilakukan,” ujarnya.
Kata beliau, penyelesaian di Taman Sri Muda pula meliputi menaik taraf sistem saliran dalaman ke tahap perlindungan lebih tinggi.
“Ia juga antaranya melibatkan pembesaran kolam takungan, pengukuhan ban tanah di tebing Sungai Klang dan pembinaan ban sama di tebing Sungai Rasau. Selain itu, kita memfokuskan penguatkuasaan pencerobohan tanah rizab tepi sungai dan pengalihan kabel utiliti atau paip yang menghalang longkang serta menaik taraf sistem automasi pintu kawalan air,” katanya.
Tambah Izham, JPS turut membentangkan status kemajuan kerja pembaikan Kolam Takungan Banjir Hillpark, Puncak Alam yang pecah lagi kali kedua sehingga mengakibatkan banjir di Taman Seri Alam semalam.
“Pihak Hillpark Resources melalui perbincangan bersama JPS dan persatuan penduduk taman itu mencadangkan beberapa langkah segera bagi mengatasi masalah kolam takungan pecah ini. Langkah-langkah segera akan dilaksanakan serta merta pada minggu ini dan saya akan turun ke Klang dan Taman Seri Alam dalam masa terdekat bagi memantau perkara yang dipersetujui itu,” katanya. – UTUSAN
SHAH ALAM: Mangsa letupan paip gas Putra Height, Subang Jaya dari Kampung Kuala Sungai Baru, Mohd. Khairul Amin Mohd.Rashid, 38, berazam bangkit kembali membangunkan perniagaan yang musnah akibat kejadian yang berlaku pada Hari Aidilfitri kedua lalu.
Beliau yang mengusahakan perniagaan kanopi, sewaan pengangkutan dan kedai makan berkata, beliau lebih banyak menyendiri dan memantau keadaan ibunya, Yatimah Mohd.Noor, 69, yang masih dirawat akibat melecur di beberapa bahagian tubuh di Hospital Putrajaya.
“Bukan mudah untuk saya pulih dari trauma dalam masa yang singkat. Baru sekarang saya mempunyai kekuatan untuk berhadapan dengan orang ramai.
“Ada pihak media yang cuba menghubungi untuk temuramah selepas beberapa hari kejadian yang tidak diduga itu berlaku. Namun saya tiada kekuatan untuk berkongsi,”katanya.
Beliau berkata demikian pada Majlis Aidilfitri Bersama Usahawan Hijrah Selangor di Seksyen 7 di sini hari ini.
Terdahulu beliau dan seorang lagi usahawan, Azrim Shaari,52, menerima bantuan Inisiatif Kasih Hijrah sebanyak RM2,000 seorang daripada Exco Pembangunan Belia & Kemajuan Sukan, Pemberdayaan Usahawan & Ekonomi Kreatif, Pengurusan Bencana Selangor, Mohd. Najwan Mohd. Halimi.
Sementara itu, Azrim dari Kampung Tengah berkata, beliau mengalami kerugian lebih RM15,000 selepas rumah, kenderaan dan barangan rumah rosak akibat kejadian tersebut.
“Anak-anak jadi takut. Mereka tidak mahu lagi tinggal di rumah itu. Saya pun masih fikir macam mana hendak mulakan semula.
“Sebagai peniaga alat pemadam kebakaran kesemua produk perniagaan berada di pejabat di Rimbayu. Cuma masalah pada saat ini bagaimana dan kepada siapa tuntutan kerugian hendak disalurkan,”ujarnya. – UTUSAN