Rebuilding the Ayeyarwady Delta is the top priority for a number of the country's biggest construction firms, who have shelved less important works in Yangon. Pic: Htin Kyaw

MAJOR Yangon-based construction companies say that work in the city is taking a backseat to reconstruction efforts in the Ayeyarwady Delta.

U Shein Win, managing director of Tet Lann Construction, said he is putting all of his resources into relief efforts and putting the company’s Yangon projects on hold.

“Projects like the Yo Gyi housing development in Insein township that we’re doing with Shwe Kanayee Construction, and the Thuwanna housing project’s second phase at Thingangyun township, where we’re combining with four other firms are running at a slow pace. We want to concentrate all of our efforts on the cyclone relief efforts,” he said.

The Yo Gyi project consists of 130 three-storey shop houses on a 10-acre compound, while Thuwanna phase two includes 174 apartments and a supermarket on 5 acres, he said.

“We’re constructing housing and facilities for 12,000 families at Nga Pu Taw township on Hainggyi island. We’ve been using 120 labourers and are about 50 percent complete,” he said on May 31.

The Prime Minister, General Thein Sein, through the Natural Disaster Preparedness Committee’s Nargis relief project sub-committee, made Tet Lann Construction responsible for the reconstruction of 19 villages in Nga Pu Taw township – one of the worst-hit areas – including 105 schools and 40 monasteries.

U Shein Win added that all works on the island are expected to a year to complete and only after this is complete with emphasis be shifted back to Yangon.

U Soe Myint, the director of Golden Flower Construction, said his company is faced with the same situation.

“We’re putting on hold our 11-acre Shwe Thapyay housing project in Thaketa township and prioritising our disaster projects instead. There’s no target completion date we must stick to for that housing project,” he said.

Under the Nargis relief project Golden Flower was made responsible for the rebuilding of 140 schools in the remote areas of Kyaiklat township, the work on which will begin in October. The delay for these works, he said, is ongoing works in the administrative capital of Nay Pyi Taw.

He said 17 partially damaged schools in Kyaiklat have already been repaired.
“So far 21 buildings – including 17 schools, one town hall, two monasteries and one hospital – have been repaired in Kyiklat township area at a cost of K140 million,” he said.

U Chit Khine, managing director of Eden Group, was responsible for the reconstruction or rebuilding of 180 villages in Dedaye township. He said the company also plans to donate 100 low cost houses, worth about K600,000 each.

“We plan to donate 100 houses measuring 384 square feet. We are now surveying the villages that we’re working in to determine which areas need these houses the most,” he said.

Even though Eden Group also has ongoing construction projects in Nay Pyi Taw, he said the company has enough manpower and funds to simultaneously handle both projects. “We’re running our Nay Pyi Taw and Dedaye operations at the same time. And we expect to spend K2 to K3 billion on our disaster relief efforts. We have 600 labourers in Dedaye now but will shift more men down there if required,” he said.

“We need to reconstruct people’s homes and their towns’ infrastructure to help them return to their normal businesses like fishing, farming and salt production,” he said.