Having already lost homes in the March 28 earthquake, residents of Pyinmana Township, Naypyitaw Union Territory, are now saddled with the exorbitant expense of clearing away the rubble of their destroyed houses.
Residents of the township—one of eight in the city of Naypyitaw—are required to request approval for demolition from the Naypyitaw City Development Committee before spending millions of kyat to rent the machinery and equipment needed to clear the damaged, unstable structures and debris remaining on their property.
The total costs of the demolition and clearing can range from 1.5 to 5 million kyat depending on the type of house, Pyinmana property owners said.
The machines used in demolition, such as backhoes, rent at rates between 100,000 and 200,000 kyat (US $22 and $45) per hour, with the demolition of a single house costing more than 1.5 million kyat (US $339).
“There are two types of clearing: clearing debris that has fallen onto roads, and the demolition and clearance of buildings,” said a man working to demolish and clear earthquake-damaged homes.
“People who own three, four, or five houses don’t have much of a challenge to rebuild. But some people can’t even afford the demolition costs, let alone reconstruction.”
He explained that volunteer labour had been needed to help clear broken bricks and other debris from around the town, and that officials from the Naypyitaw City Development Committee are supervising clearing efforts to avoid problems.
“When houses are built close together, demolishing a home causes concern for neighbouring households,” the source said. “Some houses haven’t collapsed yet but have cracks. The impact from a sudden, forceful push to the ground during a tremor could be very damaging, so we have to anticipate such things.”
The Naypyitaw City Development Committee has granted demolition permits to more than 500 households in Pyinmana Township, of which around 100 have already been cleared, he added, citing the committee’s data.
A local woman told Myanmar Now that she had seen people salvaging reusable wood and metal from the debris.
“There are many people gathering whatever materials they can from demolished homes,” she said. “Some collect it with sacks, others come in three-wheeled cars.”
A man from Pyinmana Township told Myanmar Now that his house was small enough that he did not need rented machinery to clear it, but that the cost of demolition was still hefty for someone with a monthly income of around 500,000 kyat (US $240).
“We called carpenters to demolish our house since it isn’t very large—just brick walls with wooden framework. Even that cost us about 700,000 kyat, (US $330)” he said.
Difficulties and unanticipated expenses are not limited to the area near Naypyitaw in the aftermath of the quake.
People impacted by the disaster and relief workers in many areas of the country have confirmed to Myanmar Now that they are experiencing hardship. On top of this, there are currently too few carpenters and construction workers available to meet the demand for repairs, with the cost of building materials creeping upwards.
Residents of the Naypyitaw area who are unable to return home after the quake are staying with relatives, in monasteries, or in rented properties when they can afford it.
The Naypyitaw City Development Committee has been supervising the repair of roads, utility poles, and phone lines damaged by the quake, and electricity has now been restored in nearly all of the city’s townships.
The quake heavily impacted Naypyitaw, the home of the junta’s top generals as well as the national seat of the military-controlled administration, damaging parliamentary and ministerial halls such as the offices of the foreign affairs, defence, information, industry, energy, and labour ministries.
While authorities have prioritised rescue and aid efforts in Naypyitaw, toppled government staff housing has yet to be cleared more than 10 days after the earthquake. Relief workers have set up tents for impacted people in the city’s Wunna Theikdi Ward, mostly on a football pitch and other playing fields.
Myanmar’s military has a highly questionable track record of managing disasters, with analysts and critics pointing out that the military has routinely mismanaged natural disasters for years.
According to junta’s latest tally, updated on Wednesday, the earthquake resulted in the confirmed deaths of 3,649 people, injured 5,018, and left 145 missing.
