Yangon Region’s parliament yesterday approved a proposal calling for action to be taken against factories that pollute.
Five MPs discussed the proposal submitted by MP Kyaw Kyaw Tun of Hlaing township constituency no.1 on October 18.
In his proposal, Kyaw Kyaw Tun said there were many industrial zones and factories in Yangon and it was crucial for distilleries, cell battery and rubber factories to treat their waste water. Now rivers were polluted with waste. Distilleries were not the factories that produced essential goods but they were heavy polluters, the MP said.
Yangon mayor Maung Maung Soe said: “There are 3,260 factories in 24 industrial zones in the Yangon municipal area.” The allocation and management of factories and industrial zones was being operated by the department of urban and housing development, he said. Yangon City Development Committee’s duty was to monitor and scrutinise waste disposal, the mayor said.
“Under the 2013 Yangon City Development Committee Law, the YCDC shall take legal action against offenders,” he said.
The mayor supported the proposal, saying cooperation with manufacturers was essential.
The country already has laws on waste disposal but enforcement is weak and polluters face little legal threat.
Source: Eleven Myanmar
