A Kadaw Bwe (offertory) was recently held in Burma's new capital in honour of Senior General Than Shwe for his "foresight" in moving there in 2005 from the now cyclone-ravaged Rangoon, according to a reliable government source.
 
The Kadaw Bwe was said to have taken place a few days before the senior general paid his first visit to the Nargis victims in the former capital two weeks after the cyclone tore through Burma's delta. It was attended by the armed forces top commanders and government ministers. "If it wasn't for his profound wisdom, the country would be left without direction," Maj-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, Commander of Kengtung-based Triangle Region Command, was quoted as saying.

The senior general reportedly issued another unusual directive on the occasion. "It was to build 30-ft high roads between villages and towns in the delta," the source said. "They would serve a double purpose: for travel and as breakwaters, not unlike the dikes of Holland we've been hearing about."
 
The bulk of the proposed $ 11 billion for reconstruction will go to the "Dikes of Myanmar," according to him.
 
"Naturally, the construction minister, the irrigation minister and the southwest region commander are now at each other's throats for control of the project," he said.
 
Burma has asked for more than $11 billion in aid. In response, international donors say they need access to verify the needs. The World Bank meanwhile says it cannot lend money to Burma because the country has been in arrears with the bank since 1998.