Yangon may lose its finest mode of transportation in the near future, when regional minister for border affairs and security Tin Aung Htun lives up to his promise to issue ‘precise regional decrees concerning motorcycles’ in the Yangon municipal area.
According to Eleven, the sale of electric bikes will also be banned under the new decrees.
The minister made the promise before the Yangon Region parliament on October 25 in response to a request from a regional MP to issue “regional decrees to control motorcycles and take action against traffic law violations” in the city.
Though there is no law prohibiting motorcycles in Yangon, they have been banned under municipal council decrees in 33 of Yangon’s townships since the early 2000s, according to The Irrawaddy.
The minister said: “The reason for banning motorcycles is that they can breed motorcycle gangs, robberies and violations of traffic laws.”
The fact that motorbikes are banned nowhere else in Myanmar has prompted some to speculate that the ban has more to do with Myanmar’s former military rulers’ personal aversions to motorbikes.
Until now, electric bikes and scooters have been presumed to be exempt from these bans. An official at the North Okkalapa traffic police station told The Global New Light of Myanmar last year that electric bikes are permitted in Yangon as long as they have pedals.
Thiri, who owns a LVJIA-brand e-bike showroom in North Okkalapa, said her scooters are permitted for the same reason.
Unfortunately for Thiri, these quick, congestion-proof vehicles may soon lose the benefit of being omitted from Yangon’s motorbike guidelines.
In early October, Yangon residents caught a glimmer of hope when it was reported that the regional government would review the city’s motorbike ban.
It turns out that the review has served only to cement Yangon as the car-infested congestion capital of Myanmar.
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