The military regime has ordered ministries in Naypyitaw to resume normal operations by the end of this month despite chaos in the administrative capital following the March 28 earthquake.
Home Affairs Minister Lieutenant-General Tun Tun Naung told a meeting of the Disaster Management Center on Monday that all regime offices must be open and operational by the end of April.
The earthquake killed hundreds in the junta’s nerve center, wrecking roads, bridges, staff housing, hospitals, hotels, reservoirs, homes, and government buildings.
Naypyitaw suffered nearly 600 fatalities, the highest after Mandalay. Many of the victims were government employees.
The regime announced that over 800 office buildings and 115 staff housing units were damaged in the quake. Most government employees are currently sheltering in tents provided by the junta.
“They are pushing to repair the damaged offices,” said a government employee. “We have been accommodated in tents, but they are not convenient.”
The regime is running administrative operations from temporary premises while it attempts to repair quake-hit office buildings. Photos released by junta media show staff working in makeshift offices outside their damaged ministry buildings.
Tun Tun Naung said staff housing identified as safe, marked in blue, would be repaired where needed while more severely damaged homes marked in orange and red would either be rebuilt or demolished. Staff from the latter will be accommodated in shelters until temporary buildings are constructed before the rainy season.
“The tents are unbearably hot and we are only staying because we have no choice,” said another employee.
“We still can’t retrieve our belongings from collapsed apartments and we fear theft. Thieves are rampant in Naypyitaw and there is no sign of a police presence.”
