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Submitted by admin on 10 August 2020

Ministry of Transport and Communications has targeted to launch the ferry services between Yangon and Cocogyun in the last week of August, according to the ministry yesterday.

The plan comes after State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit to the island on 6 August.

When launch the plan, twice a month ferry service will be conducted in August and September while three times a month service will be in October and November, when the weather is fine, according to the ministry.

Union Minister for Transport and Communications disclosed the plan at the work coordination meeting on implementation of the State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s directive on promoting water transport between Yangon and Coco Island, known as Cocogyun, held at the ministry’s office in Yangon yesterday.

On her visit to the Cocogyun on 6 August, the State Counsellor suggested to increase the frequency of vessels coming to Cocogyun.

Union Minister U Thant Sin Maung, the Myanma Port Authority Managing Director U Ni Aung, the Inland Water Transport Managing Director U Htay Aung, the Department of Marine Administration Director General U Soe Naing, and the Costal Voyage Shipowners Association Chairperson U Nyan Win and other officials attended the meeting.

During the coordination meeting yesterday, the Union Minister for Transport and Communications U Thant Sin Maung, said, “The State Counsellor, on her visit to Cocogyun on 6 August, claimed that the biggest difficulty she noticed when she setting foot on Cocogyun was the difficulty of connecting with the mainland. This was the low frequency of ships coming to the island. That was the reason why she wanted our ministry to look into the matter and take immediate action to resolve the matter so that the frequency of ships coming to the island could be raised.” The Union Minister recounted the instruction of the State Counsellor saying that his ministry needs to find out whatever is needed, what could be done and how it should be done.

“She wanted to transform the island into a model township, a remote outpost providing and protecting national security; in a way to designate the Cocogyun as an indispensable place and work for the development and progress of this island as a priority; to look at this in another way, when we study the progress of our country, we can look at the image of Cocogyun and gauge how far our country has progressed.”

The Union Minister U Thant Sin Maung reiterated the State Counsellor’s suggestion by saying, “She said although the township is a small area, it has many advantages for development if suitable management are performed by taking these opportunities, and people will enjoy progress. If authorities exert cooperative efforts in sectors such as health, education, transportation and electricity supply, this area could see significant development in months or years.”

During her visit, the State Counsellor urged the ministry to make efforts for considerable progress in marine transportation between Yangon and the island.

Afterwards, officials from the Myanma Port Authority, the Inland Water Transport, the Department of Marine Administration, and the Coastal Voyage Shipowners Association made detailed explanations and suggestions. —MNA (Translated by Maung Maung Swe)

Photo; MNA

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