A leaked preliminary assessment has revealed massive quake damage to staff housing in Naypyitaw, with over one-third of buildings in just one zone destroyed or rendered uninhabitable.
The assessment of 1,556 staff buildings in nine wards and two areas in the administrative capital shows 116 collapsed and 494 were severely damaged, meaning 610 are unfit for habitation.
Regime employees reported that the assessment was conducted by the Ministry of Construction and the military’s engineering corps.
The remaining 946 buildings will undergo detailed inspections and repairs before staff are allowed to return, according to the assessment.
“The assessment is still ongoing, and repair and reconstruction work has not yet started,” an official at the Ministry of Health told The Irrawaddy.
The death toll from the March 28 earthquake has risen to over 3,700, with more than 5,000 people injured. Naypyitaw, Sagaing and Mandalay bore the brunt of the quake damage and loss of life.
Among other structures badly hit in the administrative capital were the Presidential Residence, the Parliament complex, the War Office and other military buildings, and ministries, with damage recorded by photos that went viral online.
The junta has offered no updates on the Naypyitaw death toll since April 3, when it tallied 511 quake fatalities across the capital’s eight townships.
Local media reported quake damage to over 800 office buildings as of April 9, but the regime has remained silent on how many of its offices have been destroyed.
However, residents estimate that around 80% of government buildings and staff apartments were hit by the quake.
While some evacuated to towns and villages, the majority of Naypyitaw residents – both civilians and government employees – are sheltering in neighborhoods that suffered less earthquake damage.
“Housed in government accommodation, my husband and I had nowhere to live after the quake struck. So, we came to this monastery and asked the Sayadaw [abbot] for permission to stay. Our whole neighborhood is here,” said a woman sheltering at a monastery in Pobba Thiri Township.
Civilians living outside the earthquake-hit regime housing estates are also struggling with power outages, water shortages, and high commodity prices after their homes were destroyed or damaged.
The initial assessment focused on just nine wards and two areas, with damage expected to be far greater once all of Naypyitaw’s 57 wards have been inspected.
The heaviest damage to staff housing was in Pyinnyar Theikdi ward, where 147 of 156 buildings were rendered uninhabitable.
While the junta has halted casualty updates, residents and aid groups report hundreds of quake deaths in Naypyitaw, including many government employees and even high-ranking officials from various ministries.
Naypyitaw civilians and government employees left homeless by the quake have relocated to nearby towns such as Pyinmana and Taungoo, as well as cities like Yangon that escaped severe damage.
Government offices are closed for the Thingyan New Year holiday from April 13 to 20, but the regime is pressuring officials to return to work by April 18 (Friday), to maintain government operations, including transferring documents and materials from quake-damaged buildings to temporary offices.
“Even though we’re being ordered back to work, our office buildings are collapsed or damaged, making it impossible,” said Ma Lae, a Customs Department official who relocated to Pyinmana Township but has been receiving calls from her boss demanding that she and her colleagues return by Friday.
“What they’re saying is that we’ll have to set up tents and temporary offices on the ministry’s compound and continue working there,” she said.
A central bank employee who traveled to his family home in Yangon the day after the quake said that employees like him who evacuated Naypyitaw have been told to return and resume work on Friday.
The regime is also reportedly planning to relocate ministries badly hit by the quake, including the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Immigration and Population, to Yangon.
