Rangoon Property Developers to Petition Suu Kyi, Htin Kyaw

By Kyaw Hsu Mon 20 July 2016

RANGOON — Rangoon property developers, whose high-rise projects have been suspended pending modifications in line with newly enforced urban planning standards, will submit their grievances in a letter to President Htin Kyaw and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi.

The aggrieved property developers have already submitted a letter to Rangoon Mayor Maung Maung Soe, who is chairman of the Yangon City Development Council (YCDC), Rangoon’s municipal authority.

A 13-member committee appointed by the Rangoon Division government to review “high-rise” building projects (defined as structures with nine or more stories) ordered that 12 buildings currently undergoing construction be reduced in height, adhere to original designs for car parking, and improve their safety standards.

The committee—which includes architects, engineers, heritage experts and a divisional government minister—started inspecting the buildings in June, which range in height between 12 and 29 stories.

“We have submitted a letter to the mayor stating how much money each construction project stands to lose [due to the decision],” said Myo Myint, managing director of the MKT construction company.

The letter, which bore the signatures of affected property developers, claims an average loss of US$20 million per project. The letter claims that the construction projects had already “received final approval from the YCDC,” according to Myo Myint.

The aggrieved developers are preparing to insert more data in their forthcoming letter to President Htin Kyaw and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as the signatures of more developers, according to Myo Myint.

“We’re not opposing the [high rise review] committee, we just want them to know what is happening here,” he said.

Since May, the YCDC has ordered the suspension of more than 200 high-rise buildings, many of which had received only initial—and not “final”—approvals from city authorities.