U Thin Zaw Moe, deputy director of the Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development under the Mon State’s Ministry of Construction, said the project has already been submitted to the Union government and the Economic Affairs Committee.

“The apartments will be built in Min Village in Kyaikmaraw Township, and Phaung Sein Village in Thanbyuzayat township,” he said.

The budget for the projects will come from the state’s coffers, as well as joint ventures with the companies who win the tender, he added.

“Forty-four acres of land will be used for the 2,432 apartments in Min Village in Kyaikmaraw,” he said. “There will be three sizes [of apartments]: 324 square feet, 400 square feet, and 650 square feet.”

He estimated that the Min Village housing will provide accommodation for 10,000 people, with the apartments to be sold at an average of K5 million each.

Many of the government’s so-called affordable housing projects have come under fire for high sticker prices. The housing is often touted as a solution to urban slums and shantytowns, but is rarely within the means of the targeted families who scrape by on a minimum wage of K3,600.

U Thin Zaw Moe countered that the Human Settlement and Housing Development Bank could help families to afford the new units when they become available, and added that an installment plan will make the apartments more attainable.

“The down payment is K3 million. The remainder of the cost can be paid through eight year installments,” he said.

Translated by Thida Linn
Edited by Laignee Barron