Ayeyarwady island named after Myanmar State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
Khin Su Wai The Myanmar Times Thu, Feb 20, 2020
Photo – Supplied by U Soe Win
AYEYARWADY REGION, Myanmatr – An island in Ayeyarwady Region was named after State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as an expression of the Myanmar people’s gratitude for her unrelenting fight against the military dictatorship and struggle against international criticism.
The international community has sharply criticised the State Counsellor for failing to stop the Tatmadaw’s (military) alleged human rights abuses against Muslims in northern Rakhine State. Pan Ta Pwint Island, located 16 kilometres off Chaung Tha Beach in Ayeyarwady Region, will be renamed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Island, and a nearly nine-foot-tall alabaster statue of her would be erected there, according to sculptor U Soe Win.
“The donor asked that the statue be about six feet tall with a diameter of about three feet, but we wanted to make it bigger,” he said. “I will pay for the additional cost.”
A resident of Ayeyarwady started a petition a year ago to rename Pan Ta Pwint Island after the country’s de facto leader. The residents made the decision to change the name of the island, U Soe Win said.
The island, which provides shelter to fishermen during storms, covers about 46 acres, its waters are home to several fish species, and it has a small forest inhabited by wildlife.
The regional parliament will vote on renaming the island, according to U Myo Nyunt, spokesperson of the ruling National League for Democracy.
https://www.mmtimes.com/news/ayeyarwady-island-named-after-daw-aung-san-suu-kyi.html
From: THE MYANMAR TIMES, MYANMAR Thu, Feb 20, 2020
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