CNI News
7 April 2025
In Myanmar, the policies regarding natural disasters existed only on paper and implementation of them was weak, Dr. Nyo Nyo Thin, founder of the Yangon Watch, told CNI News.
Lots of discussions on natural disasters were held under former two governments and ministers concerned answered that they had taken actions.
However, there were no implementations in practice, she pointed out.
" A lot of discussions on natural disasters were conducted at the two Hluttaws. Ministers concerned replied that they had taken action. There were policies, but they were weak in putting into practice. It's been nearly 20 years since Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar. If policies on paper had been put into practice, we would have been ready to tackle a natural disaster at this time. Because it was weak in implementations, there was a shortage of skilled workers. The Myanmar people are kind and helpful when natural disasters strike. But they don't consistently demand or pressure for the long term." said Dr. Nyo Nyo Thin.
Under the NLD government, at the 15th regular session of the Amyotha Hluttaw, a member of the Hluttaw asked the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement how it had prepared to minimize damage and loss if an earthquake struck.
While seeing the victims of the earthquake
Deputy Minister U Soe Aung answered that a total of 13,627 search and rescue personnel have been trained in search and rescue techniques.
In addition, devices that detect human heartbeats and body temperature reportedly were on standby to help search and rescue trapped people.
However, the public has pointed out that there were no search and rescue operations using these equipment amid the devastation following the 7.7 magnitude earthquake on March 28.
Myanmar needs to invite outside experts to discuss natural disasters, including earthquakes, like economic and political issues, banking expert U Htay Aung Kyi told CNI News.
"It is not enough to just discuss natural disasters in the Hluttaw. It needs to be discussed like the discussion on economic and political sectors. But, later they said they would continue to hold discussions with experts, experienced people, and people with good ideas. It's not enough to just discuss in the Hluttaw. But to be honest, the knowledge of a member of the Hluttaw is limited. He might be good at the two carriers at most. That I want to mean just discussion on natural disasters in Hluttaw is not enough. We must think about how a system regarding natural disasters will be built." he said.
Currently, after the major earthquake, small earthquakes are also striking continuously, causing concern among the local population.
In addition, there are difficulties in carrying out relief and relief work because charitable organizations have to operate with inadequate equipment.
Due to lack of preparation for the earthquake, rescue teams only arrived in the days following the quake, resulting in over 3,000 deaths and over 4,000 injuries.
