Yankin's Socialist-era public housing is targeted for demolition, with damaged and poorly maintained buildings set to be cleared in order to make way for modern housing developments.





The Ministry of Construction announced the buildings put up by the Public Housing group under the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League (AFPFL) and the Myanmar Socialist Program Party will be replaced by construction projects following a public tender.

Between 1953 and 1972, 206 buildings were constructed in Ward 1 and 6. This includes 3604 rooms. The Yankin Housing Project is populated by civil servants, retired civil servants, ex-servicemen and their families. They currently rent from the Urban and Housing Development Department for a monthly fee of K12.50 per square foot.

“The places will be given to residents as well as [residents of] Lan Thit Avenue housing. Tenders will be invited,” U Yu Khaing, director of urban housing and development under the Ministry of Construction, told The Myanmar Times yesterday. “The master plan had already been written. The regional government and the Ministry of Construction will carry out this project.”

It is not yet known when the demolitions will begin.

Over 16,000 rooms in nine state-owned housing complexes are managed by the construction ministry’s Department of Urban and Housing Development. These include the Lan Thit housing project in Lanmadaw township, the Yankin township buildings, and the Hpa Sa Pa La (AFPLF) housing project in Mingalar Taung Nyunt township. These sites have been identified as the first priority.

The Department of Urban and Housing Development announced an open tender on the Lan Thit site for domestic construction firms in state owned newspapers. Tenders on the Yankin and Kandawlay Hpa Sa Pa La sites will come next.





Two state-owned buildings, 51st Street housing and Link Street, were demolished and replaced under the previous government. Original residents have been resettled into the new, upgraded housing.

The construction company which won the tender worked in cooperation with the Department of Urban and Housing Development under a public private partnership agreement.

During a the Yangon Region Hluttaw session on October 12 Yangon Region Minister for Electricity, Industry and Transportation Daw Nilar Kyaw said the apartments from Yankin Housing Project are deteriorating badly. She said the buildings are old, with roofs, windows, fences, ceilings, water and sewage pipes, as well as electricity cables, in desperate need of repair or replacement. Only a few apartments have been painted and repaired, and a lack of funding has hampered restoration efforts so far.

Responding to a question from MP Daw Thidar Maung (Yankin 1), Minister Daw Nilar Kyaw said they were now at the stage of putting forward proposed architectural designs.

Translation by San Layy and Win Thaw Tar