Yangon's unused factory land proposed for low-cost housing
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Myanmar businessmen recently proposed that Lower House Speaker, Thura Shwe Mann, confiscate unused factory land located in Yangon's industrial zones and use it for low-cost housing projects, in order to meet the city's housing demands and contain rising i
Thura Shwe Mann met with local businessmen last week, and they discussed the current problems they faced as well as the confiscation of idle industrial land, said Dr Soe Tun, chairman of the Myanmar Farmers Association. The businessmen urged that idle industrial land should be used for low-cost housing projects, as demand in the capital had grown to about 25,000 homes per year.
Last year, the government initiated several low-cost housing projects, however, the initiative was met with a barrage of criticism when it was announced that the price for each unit would be set at 20 million kyats (Bt655,000) – well above a reasonable price that average people could afford.
Yangon has 29 industrial zones in total, but only about 20 zones are operating at full capacity.
The Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development is tasked with monitoring whether or not proposed factories are actually set up on the industrial land, however, it lacks the authority to take concrete action against violators, critics say.
Last month, Vice President Nyan Tun held a meeting with factory owners at the Industrial Zones Administration Office in Hlaing Tharyar Township, Yangon, to discuss idle factories at the zones. He said if no factory was set up on industrial land after 3 years of obtaining it, then the land would be confiscated according to existing laws.
Major industrial zones in Yangon include: Mingalardon Industrial Zone; Shwelinban Industrial Zone; Dagon Seikkan Industrial Zone; East Dagon Industrial Zone; Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone; North Dagon Industrial Zone; North Okkalapa Industrial Zone; Shwe Pyi Thar Industrial Zone; and Tharkayta Industrial Zone.
Factories and plants are mainly concentrated in eastern Yangon where there are 3,319 factories on 1,287 hectares of land. In west Yangon there are 659 factories, while north and south Yangon have 625 and 76, respectively.
