Myanmar real estate news

Building permit in question after collapsed hospital kills worker


Myanmar real estate news A Spokesperson for Yangon City Development Committee’s Department of Engineering confirmed to The Myanmar Times yesterday that the under-construction hospital which collapsed on August 13 lacked YCDC building permission.

“This construction company was building without a permit from YCDC but it was built with the authority of the Ministry of Health’s Department of Medical Care,” said engineering department head U Than Htay.

A T-steel beam and scaffolding fell when an extension of the Yangon Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital in Tarmwe township collapsed on August 13, killing a Dala township man who was working on the site. On August 15, the company received a letter from the Department of Engineering demanding construction stop.

The department will take action against the company for working without a permit and police will take action on behalf of the worker who was killed. “When the department asked the company to turn over some facts for the construction permit, they did not care, and now, when their construction site has an accident, they are fully responsible,” U Than Htay said. “So the department will take action against them for violating YCDC rules and building without a permit.”

Companies do not want to pay for a permit, he said, so they join with government ministries and ask for an exemption. “We have this problem when a construction project joins with the ministries,” he said. “They build before they get a permit to get it done quickly and then they apply later. The company adding a building to the Yangon Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital project did not apply for a permit when they started construction in September 2015 and they have not applied as yet.”

Min Lwin Construction and the Department of Medical Care signed a contract in October 2015, using budget money to construct two buildings: an extension of Yangon Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital’s five-floor building, and a four-floor condo with two rooms for doctors.

Myanmar Engineering Council vice chair U Aung Myint said the inspection committee will review the company, investigating its project engineer or project manager.

“We do not know the exact reason the building collapsed but we will inspect this case,” he said.

Min Lwin Construction did not respond to requests from The Myanmar Times for comment.




Quoted from mmtimes.