The government has indicated it will provide paddy seeds to the flood damaged plantations in Mon State, as well as building new homes for those displaced by the landslide in Thae Pyu Gone Village, Paung Township.
According to the Mon State Ministry of Agriculture, the floods inundated over 87,000 acres of paddy plantations and an estimated 50,000 acres that was flooded has re-appeared as the waters receded.
“[Paddy] it has not reached the damage level yet. At the moment, those acres are submerged. If they have been damaged, we will report to our Mon State government and the Union government. Then, just like last year, we will as soon as possible and as much as possible provide the paddy seeds to the farmers,” said U Myint Than Win, Director of Mon State Government Office.
Exact figures for the damage to the nations paddy plantations is not yet available. According to the current list, 68 acres were damaged in Thanphyuzayat Township and roughly 20,000 acres of paddy farmland was inundated in Kyaikmayaw Township.
According to last years data from the Mon State Ministry of Agriculture, there had been critical damage to 30,000 acres out of the 70,000 flooded acres of paddy farmland.
Mon State government representatives indicated there are plans to provide free housing to displaced people affected by the collapse of Ma-Lat mountain in Thaphyu Kone village in Paung Township. On August 09, Ma-Latt Mountain which is located beside the Yangon-Mawlamyine Expressway collapsed and damaged 27 houses.
Led by the Ministry of Irrigation, a group of geophysicists has been inspecting the area, and the Mon State government will announce the results of this inspection.
Environmentalists and locals residents are critical of mining companies in Paung Township. They believe their rock quarrying operations contributed to the landslide.
On August 10, the Mon State government announced that companies operating the quarry will be charged in accordance with the law.
U Myint Than Win, Mon State Government Office Director said, “To relocate the displaced people, the government is still looking for available state-owned land in the area and have assigned the duty to respective Township Administrators and land-surveyors to help finding the land.”
U Myint Than Win indicated that if state-owned lands are not available, the government will buy the farmland in the area to implement the project. He said, “It is a long-term plan which is a part of a long term project of recovery. It is not possible to implement everything in a short period. Also, we cannot just get a place and tell people to resettle there.”
According to U Zaw Min Aung, Paung Township Administrator, the majority of community members prefer to return to the same place because pasture land, virgin, vacant and fallow lands are also nearby.
According to Mon State government figures, the landslide and flooding has killed 68 people and injured two persons. Another 69 bodies were recovered from the landslide while searching for missing persons. Recovery operations in the area are ongoing. The state government estimates the disaster has cost over 12 billion kyats.
