Sittwe shopping centre’s developer targets pre-Thingyan grand opening in Sittwe

By Admin 03 Oct 2023

DMG Newsroom
3 October 2023, Sittwe

A three-storey shopping centre under construction in the Arakan State capital Sittwe will be opened before the Thingyan water festival in April 2024, according to the developer.

The shopping centre, named after Mizan Ward where it is sited, was initially scheduled to open before Thingyan of this year, but construction was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic and 2021 coup, said manager Ko Kyaw Win Hlaing of Hsan Myint Tun Co, which is building the shopping complex.

“We have been forced to change the structure of the property. There were delays in transportation of raw materials. But we plan to open the ground and first floors of the shopping centre ahead of the Thingyan festival next year,” said Ko Win Kyaw Hlaing.

Construction began in 2020, and is about 65 percent complete, according to the developer. The shopping centre will consist of 226 small shops.

Shops previously evicted from locations near Sittwe’s No. 1 Police Station will get spaces on the ground and first floors, according to the developer. A total of 79 shops near the police station were removed in 2019, with authorities at the time citing security concerns.

The owner of an electronics shop who was evicted from near the police station, U Soe Naung Naung, said: “We were forced to leave all of a sudden, which had serious impacts on us. Only a few of us managed to maintain our own shops. Many were forced to rent spaces to continue to run their shops. Some businesses even folded.”

Their space allocations at the Mizan shopping centre were granted following demands from the evicted shopkeepers that they be compensated.

Daw Nyo Mar Lwin, who has purchased a shop space at the Mizan mall, said: “One-stop shopping centres are very convenient for both buyers and sellers. It provides safety.”

The shopping centre is expected to create approximately 500 jobs for local people.