The Kyaiktiyo Trustee Association is calling for tenders from 50,000 gold stores in an opportunity for suppliers to service the historic Kyaitiyo Pagoda, in Kyaikhto Township, Mon State, according to the Kyaiktiyo Trustee Association.
Last year, the Yo Yo Lay Company received the bid to work for the pagoda, but the service wasn’t adequate. The company did not provide good quality gold, the gold sizes were not accurate and prices went up and down quite often. Consequently, under the Ministry of Religion and Culture’s administration, the trustee committee will call for the tenders of gold suppliers. The announcement of the tender process will be published in state-run newspapers.
“The Yo Yo Lay Company received the bid for the gold supplying over the past years. However, this year, the trustee association will take charge. This will take about a month since the association needs to see whether the quality meets the right standards after calling for tenders,” said U Sein Myint, member of Kyaiktiyo Trustee Association.
It was rumored that the trustee association wouldn’t ask for tenders from the 50,000 gold shops but rather offer it to 16,000 shops run by their close friends, resulting in the remaining shops failing to pass the tender stage. However, in response, U Sein Myint, of the trustee association replied “the trustee association has to order from 20 owners of 16,000 shops in Mandalay since gold shops run out of supply. People have said the trustee association doesn’t work transparently. Therefore, in response, we will publish this tender in the state run newspapers.”
“It is good to have official tenders. At first, we heard that only the people who are close to the trustee committee will get to enter them. So, I thought the new trustee committee would also act similarly,” said a resident of Kyaikhto Town.
The new trustee committee has set systematic rules for the vendors on the compound of the pagoda, while it also called for bids; it removed the donation contract systems and reduced the price of truck fees over Kyaiktiyo Mountain to the top of Kyaiktiyo Pagoda, also known as the Golden Rock.
The trustee association would instead uphold responsibilities regarding projects for the pagoda, including gold and bell selling departments as well as donation boxes on the pagoda platform and vehicle gates at Kin-Mon-Chaung, at the bottom of Kyaiktiyo Mountain.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Religion and Culture, on September 21, the ministry will take charge of the project’s operation at the pagoda since it discovered the gold stores’ substandard quality of gold and their rising prices.
