For the scoping of the environmental study perimeter for New Yangon City project, the NYDC team has conducted several discussions with relevant specialists and officers from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC) – Environmental Conservation Department (ECD) since mid-2018.
During our discussions, the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) called for NYC to identify systematic sustainable developments. As such, NYDC engaged an international environmental assessment firm, Environmental Resource Management (ERM), to align the development of New Yangon City project with the goals of SEA.
Not only does SEA give us a deeper understanding of sustainable development, it also guides us toward maintaining a balance between developing NYC while protecting our natural resources. SEA also conducts in-depth studies of the environmental impacts that the city development may bring. To mitigate the potentially negative environmental impacts, NYDC will adopt the policies and guidelines that SEA sets for every investment project.
The NYDC team and our consultant, ERM, has conducted numerous stakeholder meetings as we recognise consultation as a key component of the SEA process. The first round of public consultation was held on 23 January 2019 for the regional level. A week later, from 1st to 3rd February 2019, five township level stakeholder meetings were conducted. The second round of eleven township level stakeholder public consultation meetings were held from 1st to 8th April 2019. This ensures that all our stakeholders are well updated as well as to monitor the project’s alignment with the environmental sustainability goals.
NYDC’s SEA is considered a pioneer as there are only a few SEAs in Myanmar. As such, to ensure that we are well prepared and on the right track, the NYDC team participated in an alumni seminar for the Sida-financed International Training Program workshop that was held at the ECD office.
At the moment, we are targeting to complete the draft final report in June 2019 for public review and comments.
Regards,
Serge Pun