The Yangon region government has announced suspension of the planned new town project in western part of Yangon city , according to parliament sources Saturday.

Yangon Mayor U Hla Myint made the announcement at a special session of Yangon region parliament, saying that the project needs to be reviewed.

The suspension came at a time when issues relating to the assignment of the project arose and tenders are changed to be invited transparently from private developers for the expansion project of the Yangon city.

Meanwhile, land prices in the planned new Yangon town area have skyrocketed compared with five years ago following the early announcement of the plan in August.

Observers here said that the project suspension would bring much impact on those who have bought the land at high prices.

The new Yangon town was originally planned on 12,150 hectares of land area between the Pan Hlaing River and the Twantay Canal and between the Hlaing River and Hlaingthaya-Twantay Road.

A total of 8 billion US dollars plus 7 trillion Kyats (7.21 billion US dollars) was said to be invested in the project, 70 percent of which is targeted to be completed within three years.