ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

Myanmar is reclaiming land in cyclone-hit areas to build up to 100,000 low-cost houses for those rendered homeless in last month's Cyclone Nargis.

A weekly magazine in Rangoon has reported that the houses will cost about US$450 each and will be constructed free of charge by government designated private companies.

A total of 30 private companies have been assigned to undertake reconstruction work in 17 disaster-affected areas.

The project covers 14,000 houses and 88 schools.

The Japan Platform Foundation will also help to build 2,500 to 3,000 houses for Myanmar cyclone victims in the Rangoon and Irrawaddy areas.

Myanmar has announced that the first phase of the country's post-disaster restoration work has been partially finished and it has now entered the second phase of resettlement and reconstruction.

The deadly tropical cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, killed 77,738 people.

55,917 people are still missing.

The economic loss in the devastating cyclone has been officially estimated at US$10.67 billion.