Yangon Mayor U Hla Myint has pledged that tendering for a massive public housing project on the city's western outskirts will be transparent if it is approved at a sitting of the regional parliament on September 26.
The tendering process would also be monitored by "publicly respected people", the mayor told the Yangon regional hluttaw on September 22.
The pledge follows a public outcry over a lack of transparency which forced the regional hluttaw to back down on awarding an $8 billion construction contract to little known company registered last December.
The deal with the Myanmar Say Ta Nar Myothit Public Co. Ltd., was announced by Yangon Region Chief Minister U Myint Swe on August 22.
In the wake of the outcry, the regional hluttaw decided on August 28 to put the project to open tender.
The project involves building 20,000 low-cost housing units on about 30,000 acres on land bordered by the Hlaing and Pun Hlaing rivers and the Twante canal.
The Speaker of the regional hluttaw, U Sein Tin Win, has invited any MPs with an interest in the proposed project to participate in the sitting on September 26.
Speaking after the September 22 regional hluttaw session, Independent MP Dr Nyo Nyo Thin (Bahan Township 2), told Mizzima she would be asking for a definition of "publicly respected people".
In a September 1 report, Reuters news agency quoted Dr Nyo Nyo Thin as saying the announcement that the project had been awarded to Myanmar Say Ta Nar Myothit had caught members of the regional parliament by surprise.
"We later realised that they had been carrying out this project secretly without the knowledge of parliament, and were far from seeking approval," Reuters quoted her as saying.
