A fisheries worker dries fish at the Dagon Seikkan Industrial Zone outside Yangon.

MORE than 180 businesses deemed to create excessively bad odours have been served notice by the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) that they must relocate to the Dagon Seikkan Industrial Zone, officials said last week.

Those businesses that have caught the department’s nose include manufacturers of chilli powder, mohinga, cotton dyes, plastic, incense sticks and even a bakery. The YCDC spokesperson said those companies forced to move have been sold new plots of land at the Dagon Seikkan zone, where they will join the more-than 250 fishery operators.

The Dagon Seikkan zone is about 1.5 hours by car from downtown Yangon and is the farthest away of the city’s industrial zones.

Some 488 businesses, mainly from Thaketa and South Dagon townships, were told in 2008 to move to the “smell zone” since 2008, however less than 200 have so far complied.

“We will move these businesses to the “smell zone” near the fisheries zone that produces dried fish and fish paste. Fisheries zones 1, 2 and 3 have been up and running since 2000 and there are more than 250 there,” he said.

He added that the plots at the zone measure about 4800 square feet each and less than half have been sold.

“Up to June, we’ve only sold 186 plots to the 488 businesses that will eventually be forced to relocate. The sales price is K2.2 million for a corner plot and K2 million for others,” the official said on July 30.

The spokesperson said that only the chilli powder factories have begun construction of their new factories – the other business types have not yet commenced.

“Chilli powder brands including Sin Phyu Taw, Bot Sone Ma, U Thar Pu and Daw Cho are already building their factories but other businesses will start only after the rainy season,” he said.

However, he said that the YCDC has not set any deadline for when those businesses must move, adding that this decision would be made by respective township authorities. “The respective township authorities are expected to set deadlines for the relocation of these businesses,” he said.

The official confirmed that block prices in the fisheries section of the Dagon Seikkan zone have increased from K2 million to K3.5 million since June.

“We have elected to increase the price for plots within the fisheries zone in line with the industrial infrastructure development we have completed. A concrete road along the Bago River with access to Thingangyun, Thaketa and South Dagon townships has already been finished – that new infrastructure makes transportation from the area much better,” a spokesperson said.

“Previously each block cost K2 million for 5000 square feet but because of the money we have invested to develop the zone we’ve pushed that up to K3.5 million. However, the cost of these plots is still much lower than those in the Hlaing Tharyar or Shwe Lin Pan industrial zones,” he said.