The construction ministry is planning to build an economic zone on 700 acres in Yangon’s Mingalardon township including residential and commercial buildings, an official has told The Myanmar Times.
The land between Yangon-Pyay Road and No.3 Yangon-Mandalay Highway was transferred to the ministry’s Department of Urban and Housing Development in January this year for development, but progress may be slow, as a number of legacy land disputes still need be solved, said the department’s director general U Min Htein.
The 709.14-acre (284-hectare) zone will be built with help from foreign investors, he said, though declined to provide cost estimates or a timetable at this stage.
“We’ve drawn up a conceptual plan for a project that will include residences, commercial buildings, mixed-use complexes and bus terminals,” he said. “We will implement it in phases, so it will take some time.”
The site is near to Mingalardon industrial zone and Aung Mingalar Highway Bus Terminal. Its proximity to Yangon International Airport means that the building height will be restricted to avoid interference with aircraft flight paths, he added.
“We will also need to negotiate with farmers, and then we will discuss this project in detail with the Yangon Region government.”
The land was seized by the military under the previous regime, but returned to its original owners under the Thein Sein government before it was bought by the Department of Urban and Housing Development in January for development.
Before any work can begin, the government will likely face tough negotiations, according to tycoon U Khin Shwe, chair of Zaykabar Group, who was given much of the surrounding land by the former regime.
“Some farmers divided their lands and sold them off. This could complicate negotiations. The last government invited me to join a project on this land but I refused because I was busy with other industrial zone projects at the time,” he said.
“The problems of land ownership are too complicated there.”
Translation by Zar Zar Soe
Quoted from mmtimes.
