Bangkok – Basic services have not yet been restored to the areas of Myanmar worse affected by a large earthquake three weeks ago, and emergency workers who recover bodies and cleaning waste are having regular replicas and lack of resources, they say humanitarian services.
A report of the situation issued on Friday night by the UN Office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs, or Ocha, said that frequent strong replicas continue to shake the center of Myanmar almost daily, increasing fear and uncertainty among affected residents, interrupting response efforts and exacerbating pressure on resources and services already limited.
“Three weeks after the catastrophic twin earthquakes arrived in Myanmar on March 28, the worst affected communities do not have safe refuge, clean water and sanitation, stable electricity, medical care and essential services,” the report said.
The epicenter of the Magnitude 7.7 earthquake was close to Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar, but hit a wide strip of the country, causing significant damage to six regions and states, including the capital, Naypyitaw.
It also worsened an already serious humanitarian crisis caused by the Civil War of the country that had internally displaced more than 3 million people and left almost 20 million in need, according to the United Nations.
A report in the State newspaper Myanma Alinn published on Saturday said that the number of earthquake deaths had reached 3,726, with 5,105 people injured and 129 still missing. He said that 1,975 international rescuers and medical workers from 25 countries had collaborated with local rescuers to save 653 people and recover 753 bodies from under the rubble.
Myanma Alinn said that 65,096 houses and buildings, 2,514 schools, 4,317 Buddhist monasterial homes, 6,027 pagodas and temples, 350 hospitals and clinics, 170 bridges, 586 ladies and 203 sections of the main road of the country were damaged by the earthquake.
The Myanmar Fire Services Department, an official emergency services agency that operates in many areas of the country, said in the statements published on Friday on their Facebook page that rescue workers carried out the debris of relief, search and cleanliness of large buildings, and had returned valuable jewels, effective and documents found among the debris to their owners.
He also said that rescuers recovered two bodies of collapsed buildings in Mandalay.
An official of the Myanmar rescue federation (Mandalay), who has been operating together with the Firefighters, told The Associated Press on Friday that the priority three weeks after the earthquake was to clear bodies and rubble of larger buildings, while providing assistance to the survivors affected by the earthquake.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he fears the arrest for speaking without authorization, said that the number of recovered bodies has decreased to only one or two.
Another emergency service worker in Mandalay, similarly, speaking of anonymity, said that the number of rescue teams operating in Mandalay has been constantly decreasing since most international rescue teams had returned to their countries after their work to find survivors was considered completed. He said that local rescuers participated mainly in cleaning the debris and provided assistance.
The United Nations Development Program earlier this month estimated that at least 2.5 million tons, or approximately 125,000 charges of trucks, of earthquake debris must be eliminated. It based its estimate on the remote detection analysis of satellite images.
A-Habitat, the UN agency for human settlements, said in a statement on Friday that its staff and the engineering society of Myanmar were collaborating to evaluate the generalized damage of buildings in the regions affected by the earthquake.
In Naypyitaw, almost all rescuers have ceased their help efforts, while government buildings that were damaged by the earthquake have not yet been repaired and remain in their condition after the earth, said a resident who asked not to be named for security reasons. In residential areas, people have almost completed the cleaning of debris on their own.
Saturday’s report in Myanma Alinn said that General Senior Min Aung Hlaing, head of the military government, told the members of his cabinet during a meeting on Friday that Naypyitaw’s urban design will be redesigned.
Naypyitaw became the capital of Myanmar in 2006 after being built at great cost almost from scratch next to what was once a registration center inhabited by farmers. It is remarkable for its great government buildings and underutilized roads of several lanes.
