19 Oct
The Central committee for receiving and distributing COVID-19 protective supplies yesterday organized a meeting to discuss plans and arrangements to distribute the supplies to voters, polling station staff, and volunteers for the 2020 General Election to be held on 8 November.
Union Minister for Labour, Immigration and Population U Thein Swe, in his capacity as Chairperson of the committee, presided over the meeting. Deputy Ministers who are members of the committee — U Tin Myint, Rear Admiral Myint Nwe, U Maung Maung Win, U Kyaw Myo, U Myint Kyaing, U Soe Aung , Permanent Secretaries, and other officials attended the meeting at the Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population in Nay Pyi Taw.
Regional Ministers for Immigration and Human Resources as well as Regional Ministers for Security and Border Affairs, as members of the committee, participated in the meeting via vidoeconferencing.
The committee would supervise the arrangements to distribute the COVID-19 protective supplies, purchased from China, to voters, polling station staff and volunteers, according to the Union Minister. When the supplies from China were delivered at Yangon and Mandalay International Airports, the committee would supervise the handover of the supplies to Regions and States, said the Union Minister.
About 40 batches of the supplies will arrive in Yangon and Mandalay International Airports in the third week of October starting from 17 October, according to the Union Minister, who said that authorities in Nay Pyi Taw Council and regional governments must effectively supervise the handover of the supplies to polling stations in their areas.
The Union Minister said that all the ministries concerned need to cooperate in receiving the supplies, customs procedures, payment processes, the handover of the supplies and other relevant matters.
The Union Minister also stressed that COVID-19 preventive measures must be adhered during the processes of the handover of the supplies.
The Union Minister said that all officials including regional authorities need to cooperate with each other to make the deliveries of the supplies efficient.
Regional authorities must report the expenditures on deliveries of the supplies in their relevant areas, to the central committee, according to the Union Minister.
The COVID-19 protective supplies must be delivered to polling stations three days before the General Election, according to the Union Minister.
The participants discussed various matters including the matter related to how to make the distributions efficient in accordance with the COVID-19 related guidelines set by the Ministry of Health and Sports.
The COVID-19 protective supplies including gloves, masks, face shields, and PPEs received at the Yangon International Airport will be redistributed in Yangon, Bago, Taninthayi, and Ayeyawady regions as well as Kayin, Kayah, Mon and Rakhine states. The supplies received at the Mandalay International Airport will be redistributed in Nay Pyi Taw Union Territory, Mandalay, Sagaing and Magway regions as well as Kachin, Chin and Shan states.
MNA (Translated by Maung Maung Swe)
