YANGON: No villages have been relocated as a result of the Amarapura Urban Development Project, an official of Sepine Company, which has been authorised to implement the project, said.
The company said the areas covered by the project have been publicly announced by plot numbers since 2016. Shan Lay Kyun is the only village included within the project area, and residents of the village have not been required to relocate. Instead, the company has carried out measures to support the village’s development, it said.
“In our project area, there have been cases of illegal subdivision and sale of plots. If the relevant authorities grant land titles for such properties and they no longer need to be cleared, we have no right to object," said Zaw Ye Win, director of the Amarapura Urban Development Project.
"We have been working very hard with domestic and international experts and specialists to develop this as a properly planned urban project. Our company places a strong emphasis on ethics and implements the project in accordance with ethical standards. We accept anything that is fair and are implementing the project in accordance with the project agreement,” he added.
The project covers a total of 2,500 acres, including 500 acres east of the Mandalay city ring road, also known as the riverside road, and 2,000 acres to the west, according to the company. The master plan was first announced and implementation began in 2016.
Although there is no other use for farmland, there are people who are selling plots and building houses in Amarapura Township, Yintaw Village Tract No. 603 (east side of the ring road) and are using them for plotting, fencing, paving stones, and building.
Accordingly, an order was issued under Section 19 (c, d) of the Farmland Law to the current residents to leave the farmland and remove the buildings built on the farmland without permission by August 14. If they do not comply, the Township Farmland Management Committee announced that legal action will be taken in accordance with the existing Farmland Law and Rules.
Regarding this announcement, residents of the areas and parliamentarians held a meeting on August 5 and asked for their demands.
The company did not acquire any land in the project area for free, and the company negotiated and purchased the land in the project area from the relevant parties at a fair price, The Amarapura Urban Development Project Company announced that the land that is not wanted for sale will be exchanged for city plots as per the project contract.
Those who have not contacted the company yet will be provided with the necessary documents if they contact the company. Those who bought from illegal plot sellers will be provided with documents and the company will pay for the lawyer’s fees to help them recover their money from the sellers.
Those who actually bought and built illegal plots of land in the project area will also be given back the building value as social assistance, and those who have quickly built buildings will not be given back, the company said.
On January 11, 2025, a protest was held by locals in Shan Lay Kyun Village regarding the Amarapura Urban Development Project.
The villagers protested at a ceremony of a monastery built as a donation to mark the 52nd birthday of Amarapura Urban Development Project (MBCCD) Chairman Maung Weik in Shan Lay Kyun Village. They demanded compensation for the damage to crops caused by the project, replacement of the village cemetery, and reopening of the village’s western entrance road.
The Amarapura Urban Development Project, which is being implemented on 2,500 acres of land around Shan Lay Kyun in Amarapura Township, Mandalay, with an initial investment of 500 billion kyats (US$238,095), is being built by businessman Maung Weik as its chairman.
The project is being implemented by MBCCD (Mandalay Business Capital City Development) Company. Currently, no cultivation is allowed in the project area, the committee has announced.
The Amarapura Development Project, which was signed with the regional government in June 2016, consists of seven phases and land areas have been purchased to begin implementation of the project. MBCCD has already purchased more than 80 per cent of the project area at a price of 1.5 billion kyats per acre.
The Amarapura Development Project, which was signed with the regional government in June 2016, consists of seven phases and the project period will last 10 years.
The project will include a commercial zone, a port, a hotel zone, housing estates, restaurants, international education schools, and hospitals. It was previously announced that the project would begin construction on about 40 acres of land and buildings as a pilot project.
Maung Weik, the owner of the company, also donated the Shwe Gae Sewage Treatment Plant worth five billion kyats to the Mandalay Region government in 2017, which is also part of the Amarapura New Town Project. The Amarapura New Town Project is also a project that has attracted much criticism among Mandalay residents. - Eleven Media/ANN
