Eco-tourism, and road improvements for better communications are underway to promote socio-economic development in Chin State

Vice President U Henry Van Thio inspected the development undertakings in Falam and Haka townships of Chin State on 19 May. The vice president was accompanied by Chin State Chief Minister U Salai Lian Lwal, Chin State Hluttaw Speaker U Zo Bwe, Deputy Ministers Rear Admiral Myint Nwe, Maj-Gen Than Htut and U Soe Aung, Chin State cabinet members and other officials.
The vice president and his delegation visited the 200-bed hospital in Falam, where they met patients and provided them with cash assistance.

After viewing the sites for hospital staff quarters and the nurses training school, the vice president said the upgrade of hospitals and the extension of nurses training schools were being done to ensure effective public healthcare. Hence, officials should work systematically to prevent financial wastage.

Later, the vice president inspected the site near Talanzar Village in Falam Township, where the Laiva Dam will be built. At the briefing hall, the vice president and his delegation heard a report on the lower Dam Laiva project that will supply water to Falam, presented by an official from the Irrigation and Water Utilization Management Department. The vice president said special attention must be given to the project to prevent financial wastage and ensure maximum public benefits.

The feasibility study found that in the area, a dam with a storage capacity between 162 million gallons and 216 million gallons could be built. It can have a 2.5-squaremile watershed area and a 4,820-acre-feet of water annual inflow. The dam can supply up to 800,000 gallons per day for a population over 25,000 residents in the township. The location of the Zeinhmutaung Mountain near the dam paved the way for the development of nature tourism in the area, where visitors can recreate and buy traditional goods, thus generating job opportunities for locals. Director U Win Naing of the Forest Department of the state explained plans to turn the Zeinhmutaung Mountain area into a national park.

The vice president studied the mountain and gave instructions on conducting field surveys to build a tourism destination, national park, and set up embankments and spillways to store water round the year at Laithili Lake on top of the mountain.

The Zeinhmutaung national park lies on the mountain, which is some 8,600 feet above sea level, and where Haka Township and Thantlang Township, Haka District and Falam Township, Falam District in Chin State meet.

The view from Chin State’s third highest peak on a sunny day stretches from the northern sector of Chin State to the Sagaing and Magway regions. On the mountain lies Laithili, which is also called a fairy lake. An earth dam will be built to turn Laithili into an all-weather natural lake, and the whole area will be developed into an ecotourism site without harming the natural environment. Laithili will be the first lake in Myanmar that is over 7,600 feet high.

The Forest Department is planning to build a 13.10-squaremile Kyeereeyantaung national park and a 68.12-squaremile Bwaybartaung national park in Thantlang Township, Haka District, a 31.15-squaremile Zeinhmutaung national park in Haka Township, a 19.30-squaremile Miayepitaung national park in Thantalang Township, a 2.20-squaremile Hmantaung national part in Haka Township, a 44.30-squaremile Sarhmontaung national park in Thantalang Towsnhip, and a 36.66-squaremile Laythataung national park in Tiddim Township, Falam District, in Chin State. Regarding the Haka education college project, officials explained the progress in building the lecture halls and hostels, future programmes and academic matters. The vice president looked into the requirements and visited the worksites of the education college and the midwifery school projects.
He then inspected the building of a multi-purpose disaster shelter, where more than 650 can stay and a four-storey district-level public healthcare office.
The vice president said the facilities built with state funds should be beneficial to the public, adding, every project must be environment-friendly.
At the project site to conduct sports and physical education institute in Haka, the vice president emphasised on the timely completion of the project and the upgrading of the roads. The project aims to train a new generation of athletes from among the youth talent in Chin State.
The vice president also inspected the work of turning a natural creek into a concrete channel, as a measure to prevent natural disasters; the 200-bed hospital where he visited the patients; the Chin State Hluttaw office project, which is up to 90 per cent complete; and the education college project in Haka. —Myanmar News Agency

(Global New Light of Myanmar: http://www.globalnewlightofmyanmar.com/eco-tourism-underway-chin-state/ )

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