[Myanmar] Rangoon To Get New Housing Project

Many squatters currently live on the 220-acre plot of land in Rangoon’s Dagon Seikan Township that will be used to accommodate some 83,000 people. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Plans are afoot to build a new housing project on a 220-acre plot of land in eastern Rangoon’s Dagon Seikan Township.

The project, which was announced at the Myanmar Industrial Zones & Real Estate Development Forum at the Sedona Hotel in Rangoon on Tuesday, is set to get underway in April, according to Deputy Construction Minister Soe Tint.

The project will involve construction of 64 new buildings, each with 220 units. The 18-floor buildings are budgeted to cost 5 billion kyat (US $5.8 million), while the individual units will sell for between 15 million and 20 million kyat ($17,000-23,000), said Soe Tint.

Dozens of people, including government officials and foreign businessmen, attended the forum on Tuesday.

“People living in Rangoon face many difficulties at the moment, as the city is very crowded. We aim to provide enough living space for everybody with this project,†Soe Tint told The Irrawaddy at the event.

With international investors flooding into Burma’s largest city since the government moved to open the economy last year, housing prices have risen dramatically—a situation that is expected to get even worse over the next decade. According to government figures, the city’s current population of six million will rise to 10 million in the next 10 years.

The new project will do little to accommodate much of this growth, since it will provide housing for only around 83,000 people, but it is hoped that it will help to alleviate the current situation.

“After the projected is completed, it will become like a town and people from Rangoon will move there, making the city less crowded,†said Soe Tint.

The government also has plans to tear down old buildings that are in poor condition to build new ones, he added.

Companies from South Korea, Singapore and Thailand will take part in the construction project, which is due to be completed in April 2015.