Myanmar at the HLP Crossroads: - Displacement Solutions

9Myanmar at the HLP CrossroadsTaking advantage of the transitional political environment, HLP speculation of various sorts has taken root inurban areas where housing prices have risen dramatically since early 2011. Houses in wealthy areas of Yangoncan fetch multi-million dollar prices, while apartments (often without running water or electricity) can changehands at well over US$ 1 million, resulting in real estate prices in some areas of Yangon that have surpassedthose of Bangkok in neighbouring Thailand and on par with those in notoriously high end locales such asManhattan in New York City. These artificially inflated prices are due primarily to the lack of other investmentoptions for those in Myanmar with surplus capital to invest other than the real estate sector. This condition canand must be addressed if Yangon is not also to be the site of large-scale economic displacement in the monthsand years to come. Moreover, slums, informal settlements and satellite towns (myo-thit) are commonplace inurban areas, however, there does not appear to be any effort yet by the new Government to work in any significantway towards improving HLP conditions of the numerous popular settlements throughout Yangon. Yetthese areas require special attention and support, and must be seen as a central element in any effective HLPrights strategy. State housing developments built decades ago for civil servants and members of the military arecommonplace throughout Yangon but are almost universally in serious need of repair and renovation.Likewise in rural areas, anticipated investment has encouraged business interests to acquire ever-larger tracts ofland, increasing displacement as well as price appreciation. Increasing land prices have also encouraged speculativepractices to be carried out on land parcels recently designated as Government project land. A related issuewhich is clearly causing the Government concern is the desire to address what are perceived to be organizedland invasions by people hoping to secure large compensation payments as a result of having settled on landdesignated for State projects. However, the Government is severely hampered from addressing this issue in theabsence of clear standards to determine who legitimately should have enforceable rights to the land concerned(particularly bearing in mind adverse possession rights which may be pertinent in such determinations), who isentitled to compensation, the lack of any standard methodology for determining the amount of compensationand the absence of any independent body to address compensation rights. Moreover, the lack of transparencyand public input into the planning and decision-making processes around land utilisation only serves to supportthe public perception that the transfer of land in such cases is generally not undertaken for legitimate publicpurposes nor done in accord with the rule of law.Overall, the current Government thus is grappling both with a legacy of more than five decades of calculated mismanagementwithin all corners of the HLP domain, combined with new HLP realities that have arisen since thereform process began. Tackling these vital issues will be imperative if the HLP rights of the people of Myanmarare to be met in full. Some of the key HLP challenges can be met with appropriate policy, whereas others willrequire reliance on the HLP legislative framework in Myanmar, which as discussed below, is in dire need of structuralreview and renewal.