YCDC Fights Fake Permits at Private Construction Sites
Zarni Min Naing/MBT
A construction project in South Okkalappa displays a signboard saying the project is approved by the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC).
Constructors will not be allowed to post building permits for buildings themselves anymore, and have to use YCDC-made signboards instead, according to the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC).
YCDC said illegal builders are putting up signs on their projects that claim to have the Committee’s permission, while in reality the projects are illegal and the building permits are fake.
The Committee said that illegal constructions recently have gone up, and so have these fake building permits, so it has decided to enforce laws prohibiting these constructions.
“We previously gave permission to construct buildings and we let the builders put up signboards themselves. Then some builders started to make fake building permits for their illegal projects,” said U Nay Win, assistant head of the engineering department of YCDC.
He said YCDC will issue digital codes on permits so that people can check whether it is fake or real through a mobile app.
“If people take a photo of the building permits and check with the phone app developed by YCDC, the app will tell if the signboard is made by YCDC or if it’s a fake. YCDC hopes to curb illegal constructions in Yangon by doing this,” U Nay Win told Myanmar Business Today.
U Nay Win added that YCDC has also found that legal constructors are constructing buildings bigger than they were permitted.
Currently, YCDC fines K2,500 per square feet or revoke the licence of the constructor if the construction is using more area than permitted. It also fines K15,000 per square feet for illegal constructions.
A total of 8,000 legal constructions were permitted in 2014-15 fiscal year, while about 3,000 constructions were permitted in the first six months of 2015-16 fiscal year.
According to YCDC, from 2012 until now, over 2,000 illegal construction projects have been prosecuted.
