Villagers, company dispute quality of new school building in Ann Twsp

By DMG 10 Mar 2022

DMG Newsroom
10 March 2022, Ann

The Arakan State Education Office is conducting an assessment at a basic education high school in Nyaung Chaung village, Ann Township, after villagers complained that a receently constructed building there is substandard.

“Officials from the township Education Office have travelled to the village to see if the school building meets the standards. They are accompanied by a QC [quality control] team,” the deputy director of the Arakan State Education Office, Dr. Tun Tun Thein, told DMG.

Ann Yadanar Kyaw Construction Co. based in Ann Township built the new school building and villagers and the company have had disputes over its quality, with villagers calling the work a jury-rigged structure whose roofing and ceiling were made with substandard materials.

“They didn’t build the school as per the blueprint. When we checked the building when they handed it over to us, parts of it were already crumbling. We have photo records of it. We then held a meeting and decided not to accept it,” the secretary of the school building construction committee, Ko Maung Than Win, told DMG.

The one-storey school building measures 120x30 feet, and was built at a cost of K125 million from state funds. Construction started in January 2021, and the school building was handed over last month.

Inferior tin was used for the building’s roofing, and the ceiling was made of plastic though it was supposed to be ceramic tiles, villagers have said, adding that the floor is only three inches thick though it was supposed to be six inches.

The company has rejected the village’s request to reassess the roof and ceiling, said Nyaung Chaung village administrator U Than Win.

“Company officials and engineers replied that they won’t repair because the building was not commissioned by villagers, but by the government, and they don’t need to care for the villagers if the government is happy with the work,” said U Than Win.

Nyaung Chaung villager Daw Tin Tin Nwe said: “The tin used for the roof is as thin as paper. The new school building is completely substandard. It is not OK over the long-run.”

The owner of Ann Yadanar Kyaw Construction Co., U Tin Naing, said he had no comment, when asked by DMG.

“I will sue you unless you travel to the village and see the building before you publish the report about it. I will sue you if you make a one-sided report,” he told a DMG reporter.

Headmistress Daw Khin Win Nwe of the village school said: “I have urged both sides to settle through negotiations. I can’t comment and I don’t understand those issues.”