Vice President U Myint Swe, the Chairman of the National Level Central Committee for the Administration and Management of Natural Resources in Coastal Areas, called for setting a time frame to complete seven ongoing tasks of the committee as they are considered long-term projects.

Out of 40 resolutions laid down in five meetings of the committee, 33 have been implemented and seven are ongoing, according to the sixth meeting of the committee held in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday.

The meeting was also attended by Union Ministers U Aung Thu, Chief Ministers of Regions and States U Win Thein, Dr. Aye Zan, U Nyi Pu, U Phyo Min Thein and U Hla Moe Aung, Deputy Minister Dr. Ye Myint Swe, Deputy Attorney-General U Win Myint, Commander General Staff (Navy)Captain Zaw Zaw Latt, Permanent Secretaries of the ministries, directors-general and officials.

The achievements of the committee include installation of vessel monitoring system, preparation for establishing coast guard force, drafting a plan for preventing oil spill into the Yangon River, stepped up efforts for conservation and beautifying the coasts and implementation of coastal areas management projects.

The Vice President said the committee laid down the “Participation” work process with four objectives to attract those who are connected with the natural resources in coastal areas to the implementation of the committee.

The “Participation” program is aimed at getting new idea, concepts and experiences to be taken into account when new projects are drafted, making decision together with those who are connected with the projects giving priorities to their needs and reaping good results from effective implementation of the projects which can give guarantee to success.

“When managing the coast areas, inclusive cooperation comes as a special requirement because implementing one sector can impact to another sector,” said the Vice President.
Clearing mangrove forests for a project impacts the fish and prawn breeding projects, illegal fishing hits the manageable fishing by local people and nature tourism, and marine pollution caused by natural gas and sand extraction harms the fish and prawn production, he said.

“Great care should be taken to ensure that the implementation of a project should not impact others,” said Vice President U Myint Swe. “For example, the increased population and the developing economy have led to greater extraction of natural resources in the coastal areas, and this has resulted in the depletion of natural resources and has harmed the socio-economic status of the local people,” said Vice President U Myint Swe.

“The respective district-level committees are urged to step up their efforts for implementing community-based projects such as community-owned forests, community-based sea management, and community-based tourism,” he added. The Vice President also called for stepping up efforts for conservation of biodiversity and educative awareness.

Afterwards, Union Minister Dr. Aung Thu reported on ongoing fish and ecosystem research, fighting against illegal fishing; Deputy Minister Dr. Ye Myint Swe on sustainable development of coastal areas and marine ecosystems; Bago Region Chief Minister U Win Thein on implementation of resolutions of the previous meetings; Mon State Chief Minister Dr. Aye Zan on conservation of marine resources and coastal areas; Rakhine State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu on short-term and long-term projects and beautifying of beaches; Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein on conservation of water resource, Ayeyawady Region Chief Minister U Hla Moe Aung on conservation of mangrove forests and systematic garbage system at beaches, Taninthayi Region Forest Departement’s assistant director on formation of mangrove forests and forest reserves, fighting illegal fishing and Deputy Attorney-General U Win Myint on legal affairs related with management on natural resources at coastal areas.

Myanmar’s coastal areas, which stretch up to 2,832 kilometers, abounding with important natural ecosystems in the environs of the Indian Ocean.

— MNA