Abstract
Of highly important preconditions for modern economic growth (MEG) are the supply of energy and the formation and geographical growth of the market economy, assuming that the basic biological needs, that is, measures to ensure a sound water supply and sewage, are satisfied.
The author is indebted to Drs. Asuka Mizuno and Koichi Fujita for having supplied a portion of reference materials needed for the preparation of this chapter. However, the present author is wholly responsible for the manner of implementing it.
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Notes
- 1.
A report in 1939 listed 102 public and 77 commercial and industrial undertakings. “Of the former all were small diesel plants, 10–500 kW, except for the 24,000 kW Rangoon Steam Station and nine minor hydro and steam stations. Of the industrial undertakings, six were hydro stations ranging from 300 to 10,000 kW; 24 were diesel plants up to 1,300 kW; and the remainder were steam stations up to 20,000 kW capacity” (KTAM 1953: 561). According to the same report, the total electricity generated by public undertakings in 1939 amounted to 47 MW, and out of 102 public stations that generated electricity in 1939, 47 were still in operating condition in 1952 with a total output of 55 MW (of which 5 were diesel powered, 3 hydro powered, and 47 team powered) (ibid. 562–564).
- 2.
For instance, Thayet Cement Factory in Thayet Township had installed seven generators by 1967, with a total generating capacity of approximately 6,000 KW. As for other examples, a paper factory at Kyaikto in Mon State had a diesel-powered generator, and a slate factory at Loikaw in Kayah State attempted hydro generation at a small nearby river. Needless to say, there were state factories that purchased their electric energy from the Public Electric Corporation (Ministry of Industry 1 1991: 162, 190, 196, 200–201).
- 3.
Of the total length, about 22 % is attributable to the Irrawaddy River and about 56 % to waterways in the Irrawaddy Delta.
- 4.
One of the waterway operators, Irrawaddy Flotilla Company , operated 246 powered craft and 372 barges prior to the War. The company introduced diesel-powered craft in 1930 (KTAM 1953: 339–340).
- 5.
Of the 77 long bridges inspected in the Yangon and Irrawaddy districts in 2009, 56 % were concrete, 17 % steel truss, 16 % Bailey, and 12 % suspension or cable-stayed bridges (Japan Infrastructure Partners 2012: 4).
- 6.
However, in view of the discovery by bridge inspections, conducted in fiscal year 2010–2011, of the need for improvement in engineering practices (such as the combined use of seawater while preparing concrete materials—a serious offence in the basic principle of concrete making), measures were duly taken for retraining and on-the-job training (OJT) of the local staff (Japan Infrastructure Partners 2012: 11, 13, 19–20, 29, 43, 53, 62).
- 7.
Incidentally, in order for the Myanmar national railways to be connected directly with the international express (the Asian Express), some engineering aspects such as double tracking would be needed, since the national railways of the country have adopted, in accordance with the old policy of the British colonial governor, the metre gauge system.
- 8.
The metre gauge line of 258 km (161 miles) between Rangoon (now Yangon) and Prome.
- 9.
The system was initiated by the Irrawaddy State Railway , which was succeeded in 1896 under a lease arrangement with a private corporation, the Burma Railway Company , Ltd., of London. Its control was transferred again in 1928 to the Indian Railway Board (KTAM 1953: 256).
- 10.
More or less the same quantity of cargo was transported in 2011 (JICA and PwC 2013: 4–46).
- 11.
During the years 1983 and 1986, the Myanmar government executed a pilot project, in anticipation of the future electrification of its railroad system, by applying for an ODA loan of 2,580 million yen from Japan. An inside-the-factory transport system of about 20 km in length at Kyangin Cement Mill , approximately 240 km north of Yangon, was chosen as the project site, where rolling stock was renewed, railway electrification facilities inclusive of a transformer station and telecommunication and signal systems were introduced, and four electric locomotive engines and 47 open freight wagons were imported. Ten staff from the factory and the National Railway received training in Japan, and about ten Japanese experts worked together with them at the factory site to set up the renovation. The project was duly completed, and the railroad system, since then, has been administered with proper care.
The project was a dream come true for the old Burma Railway Corporation (now Myanmar Railways ), which had long wanted to electrify its circular line in the city of Rangoon (now Yangon). However, it has turned out that the simultaneous use of diesel and electric locomotives was necessary in order to cope with untimely electricity blackouts (JICA 2002).
- 12.
One would recognise, in passing, that the extent of privatisation of the railroads is subject to sensitive checking from the viewpoint of military strategies.
- 13.
According to the staff of Yangon City Development Committee, suspension of the facility occurred only once when an antigovernment riot took place in 1988.
- 14.
The figure was for August 2009; 1,480 tons were said to be roughly equivalent to 90 % of the total amount of daily garbage.
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Odaka, K. (2016). Physical Social Overhead Capital (SOC). In: Odaka, K. (eds) The Myanmar Economy. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55735-7_4
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