150,000,000 Kyat of the Union government’s 2016-17 budget has been allocated to excavating the ancient Suvarnabhumi site, set to begin in the first week of November.
U Aung Naing Moe, director of the cultural museum at Mon State’s Archeology and National Museum department, stated the above, and explained that the project will proceed in November’s first week.
“With the allocated budget from this 2016-2017 fiscal year, 5,000,000 Kyat will be used for excavating the sites. The rest of the budget, 145,000,000 Kyat, will be used in the preservation and maintenance sector. This project will start in the first week of next month,” said director U Aung Naing Moe.
U Aung Naing Moe added that six sites have already been unearthed using the 2015-2016 budget and shelters to protect the artifacts are in place. The hill site No. 11 in Winka Village will be now be the focus of the excavations.
“The sites that have already been unearthed will be protected with roofs. This roof project will be on a bid system. For the other sites, skilled tradespersons and experts will do the unearthing,” said U Aung Naing Moe.
The roofs will be provided to the hill sites numbered 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and Taunggyi Oakpauk Hill, while the excavation team will [also] unearth the hill in Palauk Kyaung.
“The new government officials have not contacted me yet regarding the unearthing of ancient Suvarnabhumi sites. However, I have ideas for the project’s next step[s]. I have considered the unearthing of Winka [city] wall and Thaton [city] wall as well as the ancient Mottama [city],” said Sayar U San Win, an expert of Archeology.
U San Win continued that more of the budget must be used for the roof projects and the conservation, and maintenance, of the sites that have already been unearthed. This has been highlighted since Mon State experiences heavy periods of rain.
The first excavation of the ancient Suvarnabhumi site took place in 1975-78, and the excavation projects resumed again after the [new] government took office in 2010. Using a budget allocation of 20,000,000 Kyat in the 2012-13 fiscal year and the 2015-16 fiscal budget amounting to 80,000,000 Kyat, according to cultural museum (Mawlamyine) of Archeology and National Museum Department.
