Yangon City Development Committee has finished amending its building permit regulations, its secretary said yesterday, after completing a divisive review of high-rise projects across the city that saw rule-breaking developers told to amend their designs.
The new regulations have already been shared with industry association and will be made public once they have been approved by the Yangon Region government, said Daw Hlaing Maw Oo.
“On August 7 we met to discuss the new draft regulations for building permits with the Association of Myanmar Architects [AMA] and the Myanmar Engineering Society. We will show it to the Myanmar Construction Entrepreneurs Association [MCEA] before submitting it to the regional government. If they accept it, YCDC will adopt it,” she said.
Existing building regulations were used by the Department of Engineering (Building) to grant permits to developers under the former government.
When the current government took power in April, it suspended construction of all high-rise projects, pending an inspection to ensure all developers were following the rules.
The YCDC high-rise inspection committee also assessed the impact of the buildings on the city’s character, on traffic and on the environment.
New rules need to be drafted because existing rules do not offer enough protection in these areas, said Daw Hlaing Maw Oo.
Under the YCDC Law of 2013, the committee has the right to enact news regulations, but this requires approval from Yangon Region government, she said. “Moreover, as this is now a democratic country, we will show it to the public. It will come out soon.”
U San Oo, chair of the AMA, said his association is cooperating with YCDC to amend the regulations, which have been drafted according to international standards and tailored to Yangon.
“We have finished the draft and we will discuss it with developers, and negotiate with them, so that they don’t have any problems with the new rules. Then, once it has been approved by the regional government, it will be made public,” he said.
U Myo Myint, a member of the MCEA, said he has not yet heard about the new rules.
“Perhaps the committee has discussed them with our chair,” he said.
Quoted from mmtimes.
