Yangon (dpa) – Myanmar's government has asked a team of experts to devise a conservation plan for the architectural treasures of Yangon by mid-year, media reports said Sunday. The opportunity to save some of Yangon's colonial-era buildings and urban environment was given by President Thein Sein, the Myanmar Times reported. Thant Myint-O, the author of the recently published The River of Lost Footsteps, has set up a Yangon Heritage Trust to spearhead preservation efforts in the former capital. “We have a major opportunity,” Myint-O told the Myanmar Times. “Yangon is on the verge of rapid development but at the same time still has a lot of its architectural heritage intact.” The trust comprising architects, historians and non-government organizations will start surveying downtown Yangon this month in preparation for a conference of local and foreign experts planned for late April or May. “There's every possibility that Yangon can become one of the most beautiful and most liveable cities in Asia,” Myint-O said. “We have to use this small window that we have. In a year or so it will be too late.” The cultural conservation push comes at a time when Myanmar, also called Burma, is on the cusp of dramatic political and economic change. The country will hold a by-election on April 1, that could win opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi a parliamentary seat, an important benchmark for reforms launched by Thein Sein last year. Myanmar was isolated from Western influences and economic expansion between 1962 to 1988 by the military's inward-looking, socialist policies, and for the next two decades had sanctions imposed on it by Western democracies. Once sanctions are lifted, Myanmar's economy is expected to take off swiftly. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/RCUsY Tags: Buildings, Myanmar, Preservation, Yangoon Section: Asia, Heritage, Latest News, Southeast Asia
