Active and respectful engagement with local communities is important to the success of projects and long-term operations  as MJTD, the developer of Thilawa SEZ, seriously aware of its responsibility towards the local communities and strive to identify, understand and respond to the concerns of the communities in timely fashion.
Thilawa SEZ Management Committee (TSMC) and MJTD has jointly  implemented Thilawa Complaints Management Procedure (TCMP) aligning with international best practices. TCMP is designed to be accessible by affected individuals and community  and allows stakeholder to be able to contact and raise questions or concerns with TSEZ’s activities and have them addressed in a prompt, transparent and respectful manner.

Once Community Relation Team (CRT) receives complaints, CRT acknowledges to a complainant for receiving a complaint within 7 days after receiving. CRT then assigns a responsible party based on the type of complaints. Responsible parties are Yangon Regional Government (YRG), TSMC, Township Governmental Departments, related departments in One Stop Service Center (OSSC) such as Labour Section, Environment Section, MJTD, Investors, Construction Company or Main Contractor, etc. The responsible party investigates the complaint and a complainant can be involved in throughout investigation process. 

The complaint shall be resolved within 30 days after receiving a complaint. If the complainant accepts a proposed resolution by the responsible party, the agreed actions are implemented. Then the complaint is resolved successfully, and the complaint is closed out. If the complainant does not agree to a proposed resolution by the responsible party, it can be escalated to Complaint Review Board (CRB) for further investigation. The overall procedure of TCMP is as per below.

2. Role of Community Relation Team (CRT)

CRT plays an important role in TCMP as a joint team of TSMC/MJTD and the composition is as per below. CRT has role as (1) internal Thilawa SEZ coordination team, (2) internal and external ‘face’ of TCMP and (3) administrator of the TCMP. Following staff are assigned as CRT member.

3. Channels For Raising a Complaint

There are several “channels” that can be used by community members to raise or file a complaint with the Thilawa SEZ. These include, but are not limited to: In person to an SEZ official visiting the community; In person at the SEZ;Suggestion boxes (to be established in village tract/ward administrator offices); Via Community Focal Points, if community desire; In writing to the SEZ; and At a community meeting held by SEZ representations, within villages or at the SEZ.

The affected individuals and community can contact to the following persons for their complaints or concerns.