Yangon City mayor gives reasons why Yangon is not as smart as Mandalay

04 December 2018
Yangon City mayor gives reasons why Yangon is not as smart as Mandalay
Yangon City Mayor Maung Maung Soe. Photo: Min Min

Yangon City Mayor Maung Maung Soe responded to criticisms of him by giving reasons on why his city was not as smart as Mandalay.

Mayor Maung Maung Soe replied to questions raised by media persons when he visited that Union Parliament briefly as to why Yangon lagged behind Mandalay on all fronts when Mandalay was popular among the people as a smart city under the rule of Chief Minister Dr. Zaw Myint Maung.

“We do not reduce our acceleration but we are busy and preoccupied with our work and we do not have time to look back at Mandalay. This is the truth I say. Mandalay said frequently to us to come and see their city. I was surprised. I think they have a lot of leisure time,” Mayor Maung Maung Soe said.

But the Mayor added that he was pleased to see other States and Regions including Mandalay were progressing and developing and in this way the population would be spread among these States and Regions evenly otherwise only Yangon would have the highest population growth and faced many problems including huge waste management problems.

“I am rejoicing with their success and progress. I’d like to say what is the meaning of the city? This is important. So I’d like to say let me do our work as we do not have time to make a comparison with other cities,” he added.

Yangon Mayor Maung Maung Soe said that Yangon was populous and had a vast area so that he had many difficulties and challenges in handling the city’s sanitation and renovation work but he did not reduce the speed in which they were carrying out this work.

Mandalay has only just over one million people but Yangon had over seven million so that it would be easier to clean a house than cleaning the whole block, mayor Maung Maung Soe said in a comparison between Yangon and Mandalay.

“It will be easier to clean a home than a whole block. This is my opinion. It’s up to you if you like it or not,” he said.