At a recent meeting with industrialists, he said the regional government had discussed with the Yangon Electricity Supply Board providing more electricity to industrial zones in an effort to support manufacturing.

“It may take time. So please give us some time,” he pleaded.

Myanmar’s installed electricity capacity at the end of 2015 was only 5,029 megawatts. Only about one-third of 10 million households have access to electricity. As large power-plant projects have been delayed, industrial zones are now resorting to their own generators.

Ohn Saing, vice chairman of the Hlaing Thar Yar Industrial Zone management committee, said manufacturing activities would spike if the electricity needs were fulfilled.

“In order for our industrial zone to operate fully, we need 270MW of electricity as a whole. But now we have only three [generators] that can produce 50MW. Capacity is much lower than demand. Many businesses are interested in opening new factories here. But we cannot accept any more, as we cannot provide them with electricity,” he said.

Ohn Saing said squatters were another big problem.

“According to our latest survey, there are more than 8,000 squatters’ tents in our 1,400-acre [566.5-hectare] compound. Squatters lead to more criminal cases in the zone. These days, we need to worry about not only pickpockets but also aggravated burglary. Squatters also lead to concerns over security and fire.”

Aye Thaung, chairman of the Shwe Lin Pan Industrial Zone management committee, said the authorities should try to re-educate squatters on the erroneous concept that living for 12 years as a squatter will lead to ownership of a land plot.

He also called for providing more power to the zone management committees. He is frustrated that even police cannot help evict these people.

Aye Ko, chairman of the management committee for Shwe Pyi Thar Industrial Zones 2, 3 and 4, acknowledged that the issue of squatters was really hard to tackle.

“Recently, on a Sunday night, 20 new squatters’ tents were built overnight. When we went there the next morning, they refused to move. I phoned the director-general of the Housing Department and other regional authorities but all my efforts were in vain. Finally, we had to hire some groups of men to force them out as soon as possible,” he said.

Phyo Min Thein said of squatters: “If they try to improve their life, then we are responsible for them. We do not want to be a ‘bulldozer government’.”

He said the city would take the matter into serious consideration and try to work out a proper response.

He noted that Yangon was home to a large number of squatters because it draws hundreds of thousands of migrant workers each year. Low-cost housing in the city cannot cope with the migration and some workers cannot afford the rents being charged. He said that some of these people were indeed workers at industrial zones.

“In this case, [eviction is] not a proper way to handle this because they are a useful workforce for the nation. It is also not good to move them to faraway places. If they are too far from the workplace, they will become squatters again,” he said.

He vowed to find some land near industrial zones for their relocation.

The industrialists also proposed better road infrastructure inside the zones, clean water, and proper water- and waste-treatment services, among others.