YANGON • Ms Aung San Suu Kyi’s first major infrastructure project could hardly be more visible – hundreds of new yellow buses now plying the streets of Yangon in what her ruling party hopes will be a potent symbol of how it is transforming peoples’ lives..
YANGON • Ms Aung San Suu Kyi’s first major infrastructure project could hardly be more visible – hundreds of new yellow buses now plying the streets of Yangon in what her ruling party hopes will be a potent symbol of how it is transforming peoples’ lives.
But two deals to import 2,000 buses from China estimated at over US$100 million (S$136 million) have caused an unusual rift within her National League for Democracy (NLD) , with regional lawmakers questioning the cost and accusing Yangon Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein, a Suu Kyi protege, of cronyism and a lack of accountability.
« Phyo Min Thein’s government lacks transparency, » said Yangon NLD lawmaker Kyaw Zay Ya. « The image of the government will be damaged if he doesn’t change. »
The deals, struck with Chinese firms and a businessman with ties to the junta that ruled Myanmar for decades, have also soured relations with the West, say diplomats.
While there is no evidence that any laws were broken in the awarding of the contracts, Mr Roland Kobia, the European Union ambassador to Myanmar, complained in a private letter to Commerce Minister Than Myint of a lack of transparency in public procurements.
« Currently, the domestic economy remains dominated by a small number of domestic and regional actors whose longstanding practices prevent fair competition, » Mr Kobia wrote in the letter seen by Reuters.
