2nd Amyotha Hluttaw’s 8th regular session holds 4th-day meeting

The fourth-day meeting of the second Amyotha Hluttaw’s eighth regular session was held at the Amyotha Hluttaw’s meeting hall in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday morning.

At the meeting, the new Tatmadaw Amyotha Hluttaw representatives were sworn-in before Amyotha Hluttaw Speaker Mahn Win Khaing Than, and they signed the oath documents. Deputy Minister for Construction U Kyaw Lin answered five asterisk-marked questions raised by the Hluttaw representatives.

Replying to a question raised by Daw Naw Sa Muhtu of Kayin State constituency (11) on the plan to construct a 10-feet-wide, 300-feet-long and 50-feet-high Win Yaw creek crossing bridge on a road connecting the villages in Kumkathaung Village tract and Tagundaing Village tract in Kya-in Seikkyi Township, Kayin State, Deputy Minister U Kyaw Lin said the bridge would directly benefit some 36,500 people from 5,216 households in 40 villages when completed. The construction of the bridge is earmarked for the 2018-2019 fiscal year union fund, and it will be implemented depending on the funds available, he said.

In response to a question raised by U Hla Oo of Sagaing Region constituency (4) on building quality roads, the deputy minister said the Penetration Macadam system was used in up to 95 per cent of the road construction work in Myanmar. The system uses the least amount of asphalt and has the lowest cost. Myanmar is the only country in the world that is still using the Penetration Macadam system to lay its main roads. The asphalt concrete (AC) system is used for all the main roads of the countries in the world. The reason Myanmar is unable to progress beyond Penetration Macadam is due to the lack of finance and equipment. Asphalt concrete roads require equipment such as an AC plant, paver, roller and tipper and other related accessories. Myanmar is unable to provide an AC plant and AC pavers countrywide and can deploy just one in each state and region.

Once the 29 sets of AC plants funded by the World Bank arrive, they will be deployed to states and regions, and priority roads will be upgraded to AC roads in big towns. Plans are being drawn to upgrade the technology and at the same time, studies are being conducted to assess the new technologies’ appropriateness to the situation in Myanmar.

If the roads are constructed and maintained according to the instruction and guidelines of the road department, the possibility of damages to the roads before the prescribed time is low. If there are damages due to the corrupt practices of the companies and the staff, action will be taken according to the prevailing laws and the companies will be blacklisted, said the deputy minister.

U Naing Thiha of Mon State constituency (7) also asked about the plan to upgrade two roads connecting villages in Mon State, Ye Township. The deputy minister replied that funds for the two roads had been budgeted in the Mon State government and the union fund for the 2018-2019 fiscal year and will be implemented depending upon the availability of the funds.

Questions raised by U Zaw Hein of Taninthayi Region constituency (7) and U Tet Tun Aung of Rakhine State constituency (2) were also answered and explained by Deputy Minister U Kyaw Lin.

Next, Amyotha Hluttaw bill committee member Dr. Myo Aung read and explained the report of the committee on the second amendment bill to the Settlement of Labour Dispute Law. Following this, the Amyotha Hluttaw speaker requested the Hluttaw representatives to enrol their names to discuss the bill.

The fifth-day meeting of the second Amyotha Hluttaw’s eighth regular session will be held on 21 May.

Aung Ye Thwin (MNA)

Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar