Around 200 owners and employees of several KTVs located in the Mingalar Mon Market compound staged a protest on Saturday in response to the government abruptly closing down their businesses.
“We got a letter informing us that KTVs and other recreational establishments [such as clubs] have to be shut down, but we don’t know why they want us to close. Because we don’t know the reasoning behind the decision, we feel like it isn’t in compliance with the law,” Maung Maung Aye, the owner of NASA KTV, told Kumudra.
The letter, distributed by the Yangon City Development Committee’s Markets Department’s South District office, stated that the businesses had from May 13 to 15 to close down.
But business owners are adamant that they’ve done nothing wrong. Maung Maung Aye explained, “We stated that we would be opening a KTV when we first rented the property. We prepared the documents to open a club when we first rented it. We got an alcohol license. We started operating after obtaining three municipal licenses. The license in our contract has about 20 years left [before it expires]. We won’t close down.”
Mingala Taungnyunt MP Hla Htay told Kumudra that no one from the YCDC had even informed him of the order, and that this was the first time he was hearing of it. He also stated that the Yangon government does have plans to build a large ‘modern’ market in the area, and guessed that perhaps they were closing down these businesses in preparation for that. Nearby Mingalar Market was gutted by a huge fire last January that destroyed more than 1500 shops and prompted the entire market to shut down. Although the Yangon government has been in talks to rebuild the market, shopowners have complained that the process is moving too slowly, and have held demonstrations demanding that the government be more forthcoming and transparent about their plans.
In the meantime however, the KTV owners are refusing to adhere to the abrupt and seemingly groundless order. Protestors told 7Day that they would be camping out within the establishments starting from yesterday night.
“This is how we make a living. If we close, then all our employees will face difficulties, which is why we can’t shut down,” said Maung Maung Aye.
