Earthquake survivors outraged over ‘meager’ sentence for Mandalay condo developer

Survivors and grieving families in Mandalay Region’s Aungmyaythazan Township are expressing deep dissatisfaction after a regime-controlled court handed down a controversial five-year prison sentence to the developer of a condominium that collapsed during the devastating March 2025 earthquake. On June 23, Naing Tun Lin, owner of N.T.L. Construction Company, was convicted of criminal negligence under Section 304-A of the Penal Code. However, the five-year sentence has sparked outrage among former tenants of the 11-storey Sky Villa condominium, as the penal code mandates a minimum of seven to a maximum of 10 years in prison for this charge. The Sky Villa collapse The criminal negligence trial, which began in February, centered on the catastrophic failure of the Sky Villa building during the massive earthquake on March 28, 2025. The collapse of the 11-storey structure was one of the most concentrated tragedies of the disaster. According to Myanmar’s Fire Services Department, a grueling search-and-rescue operation that concluded on September 15 resulted in 52 survivors being pulled from the rubble, alongside the recovery of 207 bodies. Official records indicate the building housed over 400 tenants at the time of the quake, meaning roughly half survived the ordeal. Disputes over compensation Adding to the survivors’ grief is a bitter dispute over financial restitution. N.T.L. Construction Company reportedly paid out 10 million MMK ($2,500 USD) to the families of 146 of the tenants who died in the collapse. Survivors, many of whom lost everything, are demanding full accountability and compensation commensurate with their losses. Property Value: Condominiums in the building were priced up to 650 million MMK ($160,000 USD). Financial Ruin: One former tenant, speaking on the condition of anonymity, stated he lost his entire life savings in the rubble and has been forced to rent an apartment in Mandalay. Another survivor, who lost four family members, argued that the developer should be forced to compensate tenants for the full market value of their destroyed homes. A nation still recovering The legal controversy in Mandalay is playing out against the backdrop of a nation still reeling from the March 28, 2025 earthquake. While the epicenter was located in the Sagaing Region, the tremors heavily impacted Mandalay, Bago, Magway, Naypyidaw, and southern Shan State. Mandalay bore the heaviest human cost of any region. Data collected by DVB places the nationwide death toll at 4,477, with a staggering 2,916 fatalities in Mandalay alone. Meanwhile, the military regime officially acknowledges a nationwide death toll of 3,773, with 653 survivors rescued from collapsed buildings across the country. Reported National Infrastructure Damage: For the victims of the Sky Villa collapse, the leniency of Naing Tun Lin’s sentence is seen as a failure of justice, compounding the loss of life and property in one of Myanmar’s darkest recent chapters.