Yangon’s regional parliament will consider increasing the rental fee on the historic Secretariat building next year after lawmakers complained that the government was getting a bad deal.
The Anawmar Art Group pays 25 million kyat – roughly $16,000 – per month under a 70-year lease on the colonial compound, which is famous as the site where independence hero Aung San was assassinated.
But Hla Htay, a regional MP for Yangon’s Mingalar Taungnyunt township, thinks the government can get more.
“It’s a ridiculous rate,” he told Myanmar Now. “The place has the potential to make a big profit from both domestic and international visitors if they can manage it well. Considering that potential, this 25 million kyats is meagre.”
He said the issue will be discussed in February 2020.
The 120-year-old, 16-acre compound is where independence leader General Aung San was assassinated alongside six cabinet members in 1947.
Anawmar signed its lease on the building with the previous government in 2014. The company is responsible for restoring and maintaining the property and in return has exclusive rights to lease space to other businesses there for 70 years, Hla Htay said.
Anawmar has spent over $20m restoring and maintaining the entire compound already, he added.
MP Nay Phone Latt, who has discussed the lease terms in parliament in the past, said he doesn’t know if upping the fee will be possible.
“We don’t know if the rental fee can be changed because we don’t know the details of the contract signed under the previous government,” he told Myanmar Now.
Anawmar has also been accused of disrespecting the site by allowing certain businesses and events there. Last week the company was forced to close a spa that had opened on the site after complaints from MPs and the public.
The company said its contract allowed for the spa to open but, after the spa received widespread public criticism for operating in a historically significant site, they decided to close it, according to Hla Htay, who was present at the meeting.
The contract lists 16 permissible uses for the building that include the selling of paintings, sculptures and ethnic artifacts, restaurants, and hosting Myanmar cultural events, Hla Htay said.
