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29
Business
April 29 - May 5, 2013
Electric power ministry to
consider coal power plant
YCDC has not acted on a pre-Thingyan threat to tear
down unauthorised billboards. Pic: Kyawt
Billboards remain
as YCDC deadline
comes and goes
In Depth
with
Soe Sandar Oo
MYANMAR is considering a
proposal from Indonesia to
build a coal-burning power
station but approval will
only be granted if it meets
international standards of
environmental protection,
officials say.
Currently Myanmar
has only one coal-based
power station, in Pinlaung
township, Shan State,
according to the Ministry
of Electric Power.
A ministry spokesperson
told The Myanmar Times
on April 26: “Indonesia is
interested in building a 200
megawatt (MW) capacity
coal-powered station. But
first we have to assess the
potential environmental
damage.”
If the Indonesian proposal
meets international
standards, it could help
expand Myanmar’s
electrical power production
capacity, he said, adding:
“We welcome investment
in electricity because we
need more power for the
future.”
“Indonesia exports plenty
of coal, so they have lots of
experience. Myanmar could
benefit from the technology,
the employment, and
financially” from the plan,
he said.
They possible investment
could either be a jointventure
with the Ministry
of Electric Power, or
100 percent funded by
Indonesia, he added.
The investors need to
borrow the money from the
World Bank or ADB, which
would assess whether their
proposal met international
standards, he said, adding:
“A coal-powered station
could produce from 120MW
to 200MW. But the greater
the yield, the greater the
possible damage to the
environment”.
An official from the
ministry’s hydropower
department said Myanmar’s
electricity relied heavily on
hydropower, and ways could
be found to supplement that
energy source. However, any
such proposal would have to
be examined from the point
of view of its environmental
and social impact.
There are 20 hydropower
electric stations and 10
natural gas stations in
Myanmar.
By Noe Noe Aung
A YANGON City
Development Committee
threat made in early March
to seize advertising billboards
following the Thingyan
holiday has lapsed, with
no action by municipal
authorities.
“We announced that
YCDC is going to seize
billboards operated by
private companies after
March 31,” a spokesperson
for YCDC’s Department of
Administration said in mid-
April.
“Now we are surveying
all the billboards in Yangon
and I think YCDC will begin
taking billboards down after
Thingyan,” the spokesperson
added.
The March 31 YCDC
announcement said
billboard leases that had
been authorised in the 2012-
13 financial year, which
ended March 31, would not
be renewed in the following
financial year. However,
YCDC will continue to allow
billboards under its control.
U Aung Kyaw Oo, the
managing director of Idea
digital inkjet printing
and signs, said YCDC’s
announcement left
advertising companies that
specialised in billboards
completely in the dark about
their futures.
“YCDC announced that if
businesses want to advertise
their products on billboards
legally they would have to
work with YCDC,” he said.
“We also heard that YCDC
will seize billboards that
were not in compliance with
its order. But we really don’t
know what’s going on – all we
know is that we can’t accept
new orders and just have to
wait and see what happens,”
he said.
In August last year, YCDC
announced that it would
standardise billboard sizing
in Yangon to clean up the
streets. At first it announced
that there would only be three
sizes of billboards across the
city.
However, the March
2013 announcement said
companies would need to
apply to the Department
of Administration – and
inferred that only one size
(45 feet by 15 feet) would be
allowed. Billboards cost up
to K20,000 a square foot and
the cost to change the design
is at least K50,000, U Aung
Kyaw Oo said.
MAI
25 x 4
International Management Group
ASEAN 2014 Web Portal Establishment
for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
in The Republic of The Union of Myanmar
Publication reference: NOR/2013/COMP2/PORTAL/001
The International Management Group (IMG) intends to award
a supply contract for the ASEAN 2014 Portal Establishment for
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Republic of The Union of
Myanmar with the financial assistance from the Government of the
Kingdom of Norway.
The tender dossier is available for download at the IMG website:
http://www.img-int.org/Central/Public08/PublicTenders.aspx
Tender dossier is also available for collection at the International
Management Group Office Yangon: Royal Yaw Min Gyi Condo,
Room 506, Building 52, Yawmingyi Street, Dagon Township,
Yangon, Myanmar; Monday-Friday from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm.
The deadline for submission of tenders is 9 May, 2013 at 13:00
Yangon local time at the address mentioned above- hand delivery
only. Late tenders will not be considered.