President cancels his planned trip to landslide-hit Chin State

23 August 2015 — The authorities said that President Thein Sein had called off his plan to make a trip to landslide-affected Chin State owing to bad weather.

Van Thawng, State minister of agriculture and livestock, said: “The President has waited three days in Kalay town, Sagaing Region. Unfortunately, he is not able to come this time because of the weather.”

The president returned to Nay Pyi Taw this evening as the weather conditions had not improved sufficiently for the helicopter to fly to a mountainous town like Hakha.

He said that he would make another attempt to visit Hakha, the State’s capital, in the near future, according to the Chin minister.

Meanwhile, the State authorities had made preparations to welcome the country’s supremo for three consecutive days, ordering selected high school students and government employees to turn up at the venue around 7:30am.

A government employee, speaking to the Chinland Guardian on condition of anonymity, said: “We were told to get to the golf course on Friday, Saturday and this morning, too. We waited the whole day each day without eating properly.”

Salai Kian said that they had seen a helicopter arriving in Hakha on Friday and that they had thought it had been the President, adding: “We didn’t know what happened to his helicopter.”

Major landslides, believed to have caused by heavy rains, have destroyed hundreds of houses, roads, and bridges, made thousands homeless and forced residents to abandon several villages in Chin State.#