NAY PYI TAW — Union Parliament Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann has yielded to complaints over the price of accommodation in Myanmar’s capital and announced a lowering of rooming fees for lawmakers, to take effect when election-winning MPs take their seats on February 1.
Prices at the Nay Pyi Taw Municipal Guesthouse will be reduced to a fixed price of 100,000 kyats (US$77) per month, down from the current rate of 5,000 kyats per day, U Shwe Mann said on Friday morning.
The previous day, U Shwe Mann and National League for Democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi examined conditions at the guesthouse, where outgoing and newly-elected MPs are currently residing while the final session of the current parliament is underway.
The guesthouse has been home to all lawmakers while the parliament has been in session for the past five years, except those of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, who lodge at the party’s purpose-built Nay Pyi Taw headquarters.
Aside from the cost of lodging fees, lax security and dirty rooms have been a common cause of complaint for lawmakers staying at the guesthouse.
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Room charges were initially 3,000 kyats per day until a decision by Nay Pyi Taw council to raise rates on November 1. A decision by the council to backdate the higher cost by seven months prompted numerous complaints to the speaker’s office.
