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However, after 1988, a wall was built around the area surrounding the shrine, giving the government increased control of the area by creating choke points at its few entrances. Furthermore, the stationing of troops and informants on the pagoda’s platform has assisted the junta’s control of the terrain. Soldiers are stationed in the back rooms of buildings on the rim of the elevated platform. The southern entrance to the Shwedagon has also been remodeled so that heavy weaponry and troops could be brought up to the platform, according to a foreign scholar of the shrine. Other historically important protest sites, such as City Hall, Hle Dan Junction and Sule Pagoda are also closely monitored. Students can’t begin protests in these areas anymore and prefer downtown, according to activists. Security has been beefed up across the city. Some neighborhoods that participated in the demonstrations were forcibly relocated outside of town in distant satellite suburbs with poor living conditions. In 1988, protesters used the trees along Pyay road to build barricades to slow reinforcements from the military bases in Mingaladon Township trying to reach protests downtown. However, the trees were cut afterwards to guarantee efficient transportation of troops. After 1996, Baho Road, running parallel to Insein road, was built to assist troop movements to the downtown core. And, while the junta attempts to open up the schools to improve their image, the move may cause more political problems than it solves. Many analysts agree that it is only a matter of time before student activists show their force again.