20 October
YANGON is a city where all modes of transports, air, land and sea can be used for transportation of goods and people. Due to this investments in Yangon were increasing day by day. Good ports are vital for international trade as trade rapidly increased due to the usage of container system in transporting goods. In the same way, storage areas to temporarily store the containers are becoming a vital requirement. That was why Thanlyin container yard to store containers was being planned.
In response to a question raised about the matter at Yangon Region Hluttaw on 18 September 2019 by Botahtaung Township constituency 1 Hluttaw representative U Aung Htoo, Yangon Region minister for electricity, industry, road and communication Daw Nilar Kyaw said arrangements were made to construct a container yard, container truck and trailer park in Thanlyin.
The container yard, container truck and trailer park will be constructed on 24.588 acre wide land in Thanlyin. The land was under the management of Thanlyin Township Urban & Housing Development Department.
However, once the contain-er yard, container truck and trailer park was constructed it will be managed by Yangon Region Transport Authority and leased to Myanmar Container Truck Association.
Container yard and heavy vehicle depot an essential necessity
Yangon Port and Thilawa Port plays the main role in Myanmar maritime trade. As maritime trade nowadays was conducted mainly by containers, a container yard and a heavy vehicle depot are not a luxury but an essential necessity.
Inconvenient for the public
At the moment the contain-er and heavy vehicle depot on Botahtaung Township, Strand Road was right beside the living quarters of the public and was thus a cause of inconvenience for the public as well as for the container and heavy vehicle users and operators. Many com-plaints were being filed from the public living in Ward 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Botahtaung Township. As container trucks are big and trailers were long, it was not convenient for such heavy vehicles, long trailers and 20 to 40 ft. containers to be parked on the road sides or near places where the general public live, work and commute.
That was why a container yard, container truck and trail-er park will be constructed in Thanlyin Township to easily transport containers to and from Thilawa Special Economic Zone as well as to other factories and shops in Yangon and other part of Myanmar and for container trucks and trailers to park.
According to Myanmar Container Truck Association, the planned location in Thanlyin had enough space for 800 container trucks and trailers to park.
Increasing numbers of containers
As mentioned earlier, containers are an essential necessity of today’s maritime trade as well as for land transport of goods. According to figures released by Myanmar Port Authority, Yangon ports consisting of Asia World, Hteedan, Myanmar Industrial Port, Ahlon International Port and Botahtaung Bo Aung Kyaw Port handled 1.43 million TEUs dur-ing fiscal year 2017-2018.
On top of this Thilawa Port also handled 157,755 TEUs dur-ing fiscal year 2017-2018. A re-cent expansion of Thilawa Port had a 1,000 meter long berthing space with a land space covering 185 acre allowing annual handling of about 450,000 TEUs.
As there’ll be significant increase in the annual TEU handling, there’ll be more requirements for container trucks, trailers as well as container yard and heavy vehicle parking spaces.
Designated place for containers, trucks and trailers
In this situation – Yangon – the economic capital of Myanmar will see an increasing role played by containers, container trucks and trailers in movement of goods and products. And due to this fact, a designated place for containers, trucks and trailers to park is an essential requirement to maintain the in-creasing trade and investment momentum.
A container yard, contain-er truck and trailer park that will support the economic development of the country will soon appear in Yangon. At the same time, it will no longer be a hazard or a necessary evil that block the road and causes inconvenience to the public.
By Moe Myint Lin Let
Translated by Handytips
