The development of Yangon’s ports has been in the works since September 2012, when the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) drew up the Greater Yangon Project.
That initiative, however, appears as if it may have been in conflict with another long-term development scheme, the MPA’s Port Master Plan, which envisaged the upgrading of Lanmadaw, Sule, Pansodan and Botahtaung ports.
Senior officials from both sides – ministers for Yangon Region, the Ministry of Transport, the Myanma Port Authority under the transport ministry and YCDC – have been meeting to try to resolve the matter.
“We planned to build a high-rise office tower, shopping mall and so on” at Pansodan Port, MPA general manager U Kyaw Myint told The Myanmar Times.
The plan entailed a 20-floor office block, a 16-storey hotel, a four-storey shopping mall and a three-storey cruise and ferry terminal.
Inviting local and foreign investment in the Yangon Port Area, the MPA also plans to upgrade the Botahtaung Port Area by extending the shore 100 acres and building a resort and shopping area.
Four floating hotels are also planned for the area, with one rented by Hla Hla Pa Pa company. Another area has been given over to domestic shipping and those remaining will continue to attract bids.
In Sule Port Area, multi-berth harbours are planned for the unloading of container ships, while in Lanmadaw Port Area, high-rise office buildings will overlook international-standard domestic jetties, though MPA hasn’t yet opened this area for tender.
The YCDC, however, has put its foot down on the Pansodan plans, saying the Greater Yangon Project calls for more green space along the city’s waterfront.
“The Pansodan Port Area should be for public recreation, not commercial use,” said U Kyaw Soe, secretary of the YCDC. “We can allow nothing higher than two floors. The high-rise and commercial buildings have to go in other ports.”
As MPA put out the tender for construction rights in September 2012, and a company has already been selected for the development, MPA’s U Kyaw Myint said they will have to discuss the implications of YCDC’s decision with the bid winners, New Downtown.
He also added that MPA isn’t ready to scrap the whole agreement just yet.
“We want to know exactly why the YCDC objected to the plan, because now we have to negotiate with the company. There may be a chance to put high-rises somewhere else in that area,” he said.
At a press conference relating to the Port Master Plan on November 25, YCDC said it would make a full official announcement of its objections to the Pansodan area high-rise to the MPA and New Downtown.
The Port Master Plan was announced by the government in 2012 for implementation by the transportation ministry, parent ministry of the MPA.
The Port of Yangon handles about 70 percent of the country’s overseas trade. While upgrading and extending it will have repercussions for development, some experts believe not making improvements could stunt the country’s economic growth.
“Unless Myanmar is properly connected to international trading routes, the impressive reforms undertaken [recently] will be less effective and less meaningful than they should be,” according to an analysis of the port last month by consultancy and publishing firm Oxford Business Group.
According to the report, boats are often delayed from berthing at the port due to poor infrastructure and often have to berth at less than full capacity, while machinery and equipment, where they exist, are often obsolete. But other challenges remain as well.
“Cargo handling is still manual and paperwork is still processed the old- fashioned way – three copies of the same documentation must be brought to three separate offices by a shipper,” the report states. “There is no single window and no electronic reporting; Bills of Lading cannot be accessed via the Internet and tracking is done by hand, making it difficult to know the precise location of containers [which sometimes go missing].”
“The situation is such that unless international players are granted relatively unrestricted rights to participate in the market, the maritime investments that need to be made will probably not happen in the right way and on the proper scale,” it continues.
Some, however, take a different view. U Kyan Tine Aung, spokesperson for the conservation group Yangon Heritage Trust, sided with YCDC, saying Pansodan’s heritage buildings will be blocked if high-rise buildings are allowed in the area and this would hurt the country’s development.
“There should be areas like People’s Park and the convention hall, not high-rises,” he said. “Other countries use waterfronts as green areas for the public. Foreigners are very interested in heritage buildings in our country, and that’s why maintaining the heritage area can help the tourism sector.”
source: The Myanmar Times
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