(Yangon, 27 December 2016) – MPT has announced a nationwide program of viable water projects to help communities that are in need of a safe, hygienic water supply. The Clean and Sustainable Water Program and initiative is funded by MPT to the amount of 210 million Myanmar Kyats, it will go towards alleviating issues in water stressed regions.

Many areas of Myanmar lack sufficient access to water – especially during the dry season. Sources of water may be available, but adequate storage facilitates, or the means to tap groundwater reservoirs, can be too expensive or difficult to build without expertise. With the help of MPT and the collaboration of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), The MPT Clean and Sustainable Water Program will provide solutions to problems that communities face by drilling tube wells and creating reservoir ponds.

The program is being delivered in partnership with Network Activities Group (NAG) and Bridge Asia Japan (BAJ).

Network Activities Group (NAG) is a non-governmental organization founded in 2008 dedicated to improving the lives of Myanmar’s poor and vulnerable. By creating inclusive networks and collaborative partnerships, NAG helps empower communities and develop sustainable livelihoods. NAG is the proud recipient of the 2015 ASEAN Leadership Award on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication.

U Bobby, CEO of NAG said: “Water is crucial for daily life. We know how hard and distressing it can be under shortages of water, especially women and children who are responsible for fetching it. We are glad to be partnering with MPT and serving those communities who are in need. I am sure, it will be a meaningful and long lasting investment.”

BAJ is a Japanese organization that provides assistance for people facing difficulties such as poverty and discrimination in Myanmar, and has been constructing hundreds of tube wells to international standards for many years. It has more than two decades of experience in this country and has built a trustworthy relationship with Department for Rural Development (DRD).

“All over the world people are making efforts to achieve the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030,” explained Ms. Akiko Mori Country Representative for Bridge Asia Japan (BAJ). “This collaboration project is going to address goal number 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. Our activity in this project is to address the water shortages by providing a tube well, storage tank and engine house at Ywar Haung Kan village, Magway Township where over 1,600 people are living. The central dry zone in Myanmar has a proverb that says: “Water has more value than Gold”.”

At the launch of the initiative in Yangon on 27^th December it was announced that the first locations to benefit will be the Mandalay, Sagaing and Magway regions – discussions with local people, the Department of Rural Development and the partner NGOs about the best places to site the tube wells have already begun.

Mr Yoshiaki Benino, Chief Operating Officer MPT-KSGM Joint Operations gave his thoughts on this program. “Water is life, and too many people in Myanmar still have poor access to this most important resource” he said. “MPT has designed the Clean and Sustainable Water Program to provide projects in several locations around the country where people are in need of assistance. Our 210 million Kyats, in collaboration with NGOs, will support vulnerable communities to tap the supplies available to them, contributing towards development that will help Myanmar move forward”.

In the coming months MPT’s Clean and Sustainable Water Program will identify further sites around the country, including in Ayeyarwaddy, Mon, Kayin and Bago Regions, for tube wells and ponds, in close collaboration with locals and the required authorities.

Updates on the project will be provided by MPT throughout the process available on social media on via the MPT website.