Mawlamyine, January (14)
The military council’s Department of Civil Aviation has ordered to demolish shops near Mawlamyine Airport in Mon State within a month, the owners told Than Lwin Times.
The notice includes the demolition of all shops that have been illegally opened without the permission of the department and those who have leased the land at Mawlamyine Airport.
The shops were to be demolished between January 3 and February 2, according to a military council directive.
A shop owner stated that there is not enough time in one month to demolish shops that are around 30 years old.
In addition, because the military council ordered the shops to be closed within a month, shopkeepers may find it difficult to find new shops immediately and face unemployment problems.
According to a local, the military council’s decision intended to harm the people, and if the shops were demolished, the families whose livelihoods depend on them would suffer.
The regime’s Department of Civil Aviation collects rent ranging from 60,000 Kyats to 500,000 Kyats per month, depending on the space of the shops near the airport.
Locals say that the military council’s purpose in ordering the shops to be dismantled is not to expand the airport building, but to keep their fighter jets and military helicopters out of sight of the public, but Than Lwin Times cannot independently confirm this.
There are at least 60 shops around Mawlamyine Airport, including restaurants, tea shops, grocery stores, motorcycle repair shops, and flower shops. News-Than Lwin Times
