This was in response to an Eleven Media report on the same day that the Ministry of Industry has leased out the buildings to Myanmar Egress for Ks 200,000 per month.
In its announcement, Myanmar Egress stated that the Boiler Training School under the Ministry of Industry had agreed to lease out the buildings for Ks 1 million per month but the organisation has signed a one-year contract with the Ministry to lease the buildings for Ks 2 million per month after a market value comparison. The organisation has also made a major renovation to the buildings.
Eleven Media contacted Myanmar Egress for permission to look at the documents of the company’s monthly payment plan and its contract with the Ministry, in order to clarify the situation. However, an organization spokesperson did not get back to the newspaper despite promising to do so after consulting superiors.
An official from the Ministry of Industry told Eleven Media that the Ministry has leased out the buildings based on a decision by the executive committee. According to the official, the executive committee has decided to lease out the buildings on a year-to-year basis, although it has agreed to lease them to Myanmar Egress for five years.
He said he did not know how Eleven Media obtained the information but there may have been a typing error between Ks 2.4 million and Ks 24 million for the yearly rental rate.
Critics say the government needs to make the details public when privatising public properties and facilities. Although the government needs to keep the information secret for enterprises related to national security, critics say it needs to show transparency by announcing the values and related information when transferring, selling or renting most public properties.
Other countries show transparency in the privatization of public assets as respective ministries tend to make public—through the Internet or the media—details of the transfer, sale, or rental of public properties to private companies.
Some public properties have been privatized for under their market value, including the sale of a state-owned factory for only Ks 9 million, while small shops with cramped space such as Win Thuzar are leased for up to Ks 6 million per month.
Following the military administration period, the government privatised 2,257 businesses as of the end of 2012. However, it has been criticized for not releasing detailed information about the privatisation.
The government has received just over Ks 258 billion from the privatisation of 2,257 businesses and the parliament announced last year that some of the entrepreneurs have still not made full payments for the lands, factories, and businesses they acquired from the government.
According to statistics released by the parliament in March last year, the entrepreneurs have only paid taxes for 331 out of 2,257 businesses, so the government has only received about Ks 14 billion in tax, instead of Ks 1.09 trillion.
As the government has only received Ks 258 billion for the privatisation of the buildings, including the high-valued land plots, petrol stations, and buildings with strategic locations along Pyay Road, this shows that the government has only received about Ks 114 million per land plot or business for public finance.
Both the country and the public suffer when state-owned properties are privatised for less than their market value, so critics say the government needs to reform the privatization laws for the public’s benefit.
According to information obtained by Eleven Media, Myanmar Annawar Swan Ah Shin Groups has leased a 17.36-acre land plot of the former Ahlone Asbestos Cement Factory for more than Ks 20.4 million per year, with a build-operate-transfer contract until 2017, and six warehouses for Ks 4.4 million per year. An additional 23.29 acres of land from the Phawkan port area in Insein Township has also been leased out to Mother Industrial company for more than Ks 82.9 million per year, with a build-operate-transfer contract until 2017.
The government needs to clarify whether the above sales are true or not and set up a standard to prevent such kind of losses for public finance.
Eleven Media’s editor-in-chief, Wai Phyo, said the media must ask tough questions because they receive so little official information and data. Concerned government officials, if they are sincere, must be able to answer the questions in detail, he said.
“For the issue of Myanmar Egress, we wrote the news story based on the facts we had gathered. It is our duty to publish a correction if firm evidence and information emerges to show that we are wrong. They need to show the contracts and documents showing cash payments. We have not received a single fact. The reason we have written such a story is to point out how right and just the issue is, who is getting opportunities and whether the prices are reasonable. Those responsible need to deal with those unreasonable prices,” said Wai Phyo.
“It is not Ks 200,000 as we have written. It should not even be Ks 2 million in comparison with the current prices. For the issue of Myanmar Egress, it is not that much money. We have more examples of losses. (The government) should release official rents and sales of its property. Studying them, the media must point out whether those figures are correct or not.”
He also emphasized the importance of government transparency, blaming the absence of transparency for the lack of information and official data.
“There are irregularities when business contracts are signed in Myanmar. No details are released when something is up for auction. They don’t publicize who wins the tender and how they choose. The tender for the Yangon airport upgrade is one example,” Wai Phyo commented.
source: Eleven Myanmar
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