THE highway connecting Yangon and Mandalay is operating as usual, according to an operator at the Aung Mingala terminal.

He says, “Vehicles are travelling as usual on the highway. They didn’t usually travel around midnight before, but now they’re going normally. So are express buses.” The operator responded to recent fake news claiming that the Yangon-Mandalay highway was shut down.

The Yangon-Nay Pyi Taw segment on the highway was opened on 25 March 2009, the Nay Pyi Taw-Sagar Inn segment on 29 December 2010, and the Sagar Inn-Tagondaing (Mandalay) segment on 23 December 2011, respectively. The road is 336 miles and three furlongs long, spanning 22 townships.

The Highway Maintenance and Management Body at the Department of Highways under the Ministry of Construction has initiated an open tender for the installation of telematics systems on passenger buses commuting along the Yangon-Mandalay highway. The Command Centre aims to monitor the vehicles on the highway for their safety.

Myo Khaing/NT