Beset by increasing numbers of vendors and visitors — and mounting piles of trash — the Kyaikhto Pagoda Board of Trustees is badly in need of some help from the state government, a local official says.
Mon State Hluttaw Deputy Speaker Aung Naing Oo is planning to submit a proposal at the hluttaw’s upcoming session next month, requesting that the state government step in to assist the pagoda’s board in such areas as water and electricity supply and garbage collection.
The latter has proven a matter of contention in the past at the pagoda, a popular pilgrimage site that receives thousands of domestic and foreign visitors every year.
“We need a solution prepared before there is a major problem,” Aung Naing Oo said.
“We also need to improve income collection,” he said, adding that the Kyaikhto pagoda is an important symbol of the “religion, state, and country."
"The government needs to provide necessary assistance.”
According to U Aye Myint Thein, a member of the Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda’s board, there aren’t adequate waste collection facilities at the moment, leading locals and visitors to dispose of trash on the sides of the mountain or to burn it, damaging the air quality. The board is also struggling to cope with a recent increase in vendors, he said.
Mon State’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Min Kyi Win had previously said that the state government was not planning on constructing a new garbage facility near Kyaikhto Mountain.
