“The Ambassadors’ Fund has run out for now. Therefore, restoration work has been stopped temporarily. The expert in charge of the monastery’s restoration has gone back for a while, so we will not know how to proceed until he comes back,” said the official who did not wish to be identified.

With a grant of US$500,000 from the US Ambassadors’ Fund, the preservation plan, led by the World Monument Fund, started on February 14, 2014, but all the work stopped on March 8 when funding ran out.

Over the past three years, the World Monument Fund has worked to restore the national heritage building to its original state by laser scanning the entire building, publishing a nine-book report on Shwenandaw Monastery, improving the drainage system, replacing 12 pillars in the building’s outdoor passage, replacing old flooring and preserving the building’s northern staircase. Studies of the building are continuing.

“It is supposed to restore the building to its original state, so it has taken three years. The restoration requires us to seek materials that are almost the same as the original ones,” he said.

Decorative carved elements adorning the building’s interior were removed while the restoration was being carried out and have yet to be re-installed.

“If the fund falls short, the government of Myanmar should back the preservation project to continue work. But the foreign team will need to bring back their expert so that the project can be completed as soon as possible. It looks bad that work has been suspended without completing it,” said U Tun Naing, a private teacher from Mandalay.

 

 

– Translation by Zar Zar Soe