Factories to set up wastewater treatment facilities in Yangon, Myanmar

Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) of Myanmar has ordered around 80 factories in the city to set up wastewater treatment facilities by the end of the year.

The agency has warned that it will seize business licenses for all factories that fail to have proper water treatment facilities in place by 2014.

YCDC’s pollution control and cleaning department head Than Lwin Oo said that 207 out of 3,264 factories within the city’s industrial zones release wastewater into waterways.

Among the 207 factories, 109 ensure proper treatment while 78 are not following YCDC standards. Untreated wastewater creates bad odours and water pollution for residents near the industrial zone.

The agency instructed the 78 firms to initiate the process of water treatment earlier in September. However, only 49 of them have responded to say that they would complete the installation of treatment equipment by November.

A recent survey by YCDC has revealed that among those that did not respond to the order, 19 factories are due to initiate work, while some have stopped operations and some are already complying with the set standards.

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Image: About 207 factories in Yangon City release waste water into waterways causing water pollution; Photo: courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net/ sakhorn38.