The initial plan was to build 32 fuel storage tanks, but only one received a green light in August 2016 and has been built.

All the equipment is being installed and gasoline will shortly be stored, announced company project director U Than Htun to The Myanmar Times on September 24.

“The regional government authorised operation for one tank. It will be operational within the next two months. The fuel needs to be distributed from the tanks systematically. So far, fuel transportation is not systematic. Since we will be using pipes to fuel the tank, there is no need to worry about spillage anymore,” he said.

Further fuel storage projects will be carried out on 38 acres of land close to Odotetan street and Thapyaytan Fort, where the Ayeyarwady and Dokhtawaddy rivers meet.

A fuel-storage tank is 35 ft high and nearly 105 ft wide. Altogether, they will have a storage capacity of 3 million gallons of fuel. The project began in March 2015 but was postponed in August 2016 due to environmental impact concerns, irregularities in engineering, and the land being too sandy.

“After the current government reviewed the project, it was delayed for a while. But now, it is all OK and we are carrying out the project with great concern for the environment. Suggestions from the regulation committee will be implemented if possible,” he said.

The regulation committee is comprised of impartial experts and government officials from the Petroleum Storage Department, Department for Water Resources and River Development, Myanmar Engineering Society and the Regional Minister of Electricity, Energy and Construction U Zarni Aung, who currently presides over the committee.

Nonetheless, opposition remains because the storage complex is located near the ancient cultural zone of Innwa.

U Maung Maung Oo of Evergreen, a non-governmental environmental organisation in Mandalay, said they are raising the issue with the Union government: “Although we accept the need for regional development, it is near a huge cultural heritage site and we are planning to object to it.”

“The villagers are a little bit afraid, wondering if it could be dangerous. I have also asked the parliament to change the project’s location. Minister U Zarni Aung answered that there were no such plans, but that since it is close to Thapyaytan Fort, Innwa Bridge and a seismic zone, it would be good to think about another place. There is still free land lower down the river,” said U Myint Swe, Regional Parliament MP for No.2 Amarapura Voting Precinct.

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