Health-care sources say doctors and other medical professionals will submit a petition against the decision by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) to lease out state-owned land in Yangon to private investors.
The petition, to be submitted today (Saturday), is signed by many academics, doctors, nurses and students. It calls for permanent suspension of the “Parkway Yangon” project on a 4.4-acre near Yangon General Hospital.
The petition will be submitted to 19 bodies, such as the President’s Office, Parliament, Ministry of Defence and National League for Democracy.
A recent interview with the chief secretary of the MIC Aung Naing Oo increased anger over the deal that was signed last October.
“One thing that can be mistaken in this situation is that the land was not given away completely to foreigners, only leased for 50 years. The country will be earn over US$8 million in premium fees alone and around US$540,000 per year at a rate of US$18 per square metre,” said Aung Naing Oo in the interview.
Medics said the comments underlined their complaint that the project was only about making profits from state-owned land.
“He said that the land was not sold; only leased. We know that but the real issue here is that the land was leased to private investors for a long stretch of time that might as well equate to it being sold. Even a child born today might not be alive when those 50 years are up. The reason why so many are against this decision is because they are making use of land that is neither for them to decide to rent or sell. We are against this project and will fight to put a complete stop to it,” said Dr San Kyaw Oo of the campaign.
The project will be 67.5-per-cent owned by foreign investors based in Singapore, Parkway Hospitals, and the rest by the domestic Andaman Alliance Healthcare.
Source: Eleven Media
