Jun 19, 2008 (DVB), The Free Funeral Service Society is working to develop a school building in a village in Irrawaddy division that can double as an emergency storm shelter for local villagers.

FFSS financial director Daw Shwe Zee Gwat said the building will be constructed in Kyaukkalat village in the Ngaputaw-Pyin district of Irrawaddy division.

"The FFSS will begin construction of a 165×30 square foot one-storey building soon. "This area was hit by Cyclone Nargis in May and again by strong winds on Monday," Shwe Zee Gwat said.

"We are going to design the building to also have resistance to storms, so it can be also used as a storm shelter for people in the village as well as a school building for the children at normal times," she said.

"The building will be located on high ground and it will be a rectangular shape so a lot of people can go and hide in it."

Shwe Zee Gwat said funding for the project, which was estimated at around 30 million kyat, had come from donors in Washington in the United States.

Reporting by Yee May Aung