YCDC member demands probe into city rents
An elected Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) member has attacked the Myanmar Ports Authority (MPA) on his
Facebook site for renting out a prime location to a retired army officer at a knockdown rate.
Khin Hlaing posted a picture of a building to be constructed on public recreation land rented out by the MPA under a 10-year contract at a monthly rental of Ks0.5 million to a man described as retired major “Wunna”.
The 56 x 40 foot plot on public land near Botataung Pagoda was rented to him in September 2014 to construct a restaurant. The address of the body renting the land in the contract is listed at Strand Road, Ahlon Township, and 40, 4(a) East Horse Race Course Road, Tamwe Township.
Khin Hlaing on Facebook said: “The contract was signed by Than Naing Oo, deputy general manager of the production department of the MPA, and the renter. The deputy general manager signing the contract is counter to some sections of the MPA Law which appeared in the state-run newspapers on April 14 this year.”
The law stated that the MPA shall seek approval from the union government to rent out its buildings and a deputy general manager had no authority to do so, he added.
An unnamed official at the MPA said: “The renting of land at Botataung jetty was carried out by the production department. It was done by the MPA with the permission of the Ministry of Transport.”
The monthly rent is a relatively low Ks0.5 million, according to Khin Hlaing. He called on the government’s anti-corruption commission to scrutinise whether other public land in Yangon was rented out at low rates and to see if the officials involved were taking bribes.
Seikkan Township, where many docks are located, is under the control of the MPA and many plots are let to companies. The MPA plans to rent out the YCDC-owned Seikkanthar Park in Kyimyindine Township to Asia World Company to build six 4,000-tonne oil tanks. The YCDC could stop that plan, said Khin Hlaing’s social-media page.
The plan to rent out public land contradicted the YCDC’s policies of public use and recreation, he added.
He claimed: “I won’t agree to. As a member of West District Municipal Committee and an elected member of the YCDC, I will oppose it.”
Rents should be set at a commercial level, he said.
The monthly rent for a small, ground-floor flat in the area ranged from Ks0.7 million to Ks1.2 million, Yangon real estate agents said.
