Shwedagon authorities repair cyclone damage

(DVB)–Shwedagon pagoda authorities have been working for the past five months to repair damage caused in May last year by Cyclone Nargis, which dislodged precious gems from the top of the pagoda.

A source close to members of the pagoda administration committee said treasures including a large diamond and several other jewels had come down from the pagoda.

"Some jewels fell off during the storm and they have been kept in the Shwedagon pagoda museum,” he said.

“I heard that some of the treasures have been moved."

The source claimed that State Peace and Development Council leaders planned to move these jewels and other museum exhibits to Naypyidaw where a replica of Shwedagon pagoda, Uppaba Thandi pagoda, is situated.

A member of the pagoda administration committee said he was not aware of any plans to move the valuable items to the new capital but confirmed that some precious gems had fallen off the pagoda.

"We put up the scaffolding on 1 September and formed a subcommittee of three members [to repair the pagoda],” he said.

“Some precious gems had fallen down."

Reporting by Arnt Phone Myat

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AIDS Patients Forced to Leave Monastery

By THE IRRAWADDY

Authorities have forced 35 people living with HIV/AIDS to leave a monastery in Rangoon where they were receiving free treatment, according to sources close to the monastery.

A caregiver at the monastery told The Irrawaddy that on Tuesday, local authorities ordered the patients to move to the Wai Bar Gi Infectious Diseases Hospital in Rangoon’s North Okkalapa Township. However, only 26 of the patients went to the hospital, the source said.

The patients, including two young children, were from various parts of Burma and were too poor to go to a hospital, the source said. He added that some were receiving antiretroviral (ARV) drugs at the monastery, but were not in such serious condition that they needed to be hospitalized.

Another source said that authorities inspecting construction on an extension of the monastery told the abbot that the unauthorized “guests” were not permitted to stay. The abbot now fears that his monastery will be shut down, the source added.

In October 2007, following the monk-led protests known as the Saffron Revolution, the authorities raided Maggin Monastery in Rangoon’s Thingangyun Township and expelled its resident monks. The monastery, which also provided free healthcare to people with HIV/AIDS, was suspected of harboring social activists.

The abbot of the monastery, U Indaka, was sentenced to more than 20 years imprisonment for his involvement in the Saffron Revolution.

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