Local lender Kanbawza Bank has announced that they will finance the entire restoration of the Secretariat Building in downtown Yangon, one of the country’s most important historical buildings, according to an article in Frontier. The Secretariat, previously known as the Ministers’ Building, was completed in 1905 and has played a crucial role in the country’s political history. However, it is best known among most Myanmar people as the place where independence hero Bogyoke Aung San and seven members of his cabinet and a bodyguard were assassinated in July 1947, shortly before the country gained independence from the British. The compound has been closed to the public for decades, opening only on Martyrs’ Day, which commemorates the killings, as well as some art exhibitions. In 2012, Anawmar Art Group won a government tender to manage the site. In its statement, KBZ Bank said the restoration would include a Martyrs’ Museum as well as National Museum of Yangon. The statement said that the project would “reimagine the entire venue and create new public and commercial spaces for modern Myanmar citizens to gather, learn about their heritage and reimagine their futures”.
