"The Rakhine state government in Myanmar, has allocated a plot of land located in the Mrauk U region for a health center," Dr. Joserizal Jurnalis, Chairman of the Team-3 of MER-C for Myanmar, said recently.
The Myanmar government is also supporting the plan to set up a health center.
The team left for Minbya through Sittwe, on August 28 with the assistance of the Indonesian embassy in Yangon. From Sittwe, they took a speedboat for a three-hour journey to Minbya.
In Minbya, the team also visited two schools constructed by the Indonesian government. One school is for Buddhists and another for Muslims. The two-story schools are located at a distance of just 500 meters from each other.
In February this year, MER-C Indonesia donated two power generators to support the schools activities.
"Students in both the Buddhist and Muslim schools were very happy to meet the team," Jurnalis said.
From Minbya, the team was accompanied by an Indonesian embassy staff member and officers of the Rakhine state administration, who proceeded to Mrauk U in six cars.
When they arrived in Mrauk U, they could see that the area was still chaotic in the aftermath of flooding.
The 4000 square meter site for an Indonesian Health Center is located between the Site village, which has a Muslim population of 650, and the Nanja village having 1,700 Buddhist inhabitants.
MER-C Indonesia has paid Rp17.6 million to the local farmers to compensate the state-owned land.
The construction of the health center building is estimated to cost Rp3 billion.
For Indonesians interested in extending financial aid for the health centers construction, the Medical Emergency Rescue Committee has opened bank accounts in Bank Central Asia (BCA), with account number 686.028.0009 and in Bank Syariah Mandiri (BSM), with account number 700.1306.833.
Earlier, the team had gifted an ambulance to the residents of Rakhine in Sittwe, the states capital.
MER-C Indonesia is currently also preparing to inaugurate an Indonesian Hospital in Gaza, Palestine.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2015
