By Soe Hteik Aung/ Kantarawaddy Times
After waiting for years for funds from the state government to fix a stone road badly in need of repair, residents of a village in Karenni State (aka Kayah State) decided to fix it themselves.
MP Thae Reh said the villagers requested the money in 2017. When the government didn’t respond, residents of Lawja, located in Hparuso township, paid for all the costs themselves.
“We wanted to cover the road with tar,” Te Reh, the village headman, told Kantarawaddy Times.
When they didn’t get the money from the government they built a concrete road, he explained.
The road, just over one kilometre, was built in 2010, and over time rain and flooding have caused extensive damage.
Villagers were eager to repair it before celebrating their jubilee year (50th anniversary of being Catholic).
There are eighty households in Lawja. Nearly a member from each house worked tirelessly every day to complete the road ahead of the religious celebrations.