“There are 65 cooperative associations registered in Kyauktada township. But we can’t find some of these associations anymore. Some are registered as co-ops but running other businesses. The government should check on this and abolish those that are not conducting their operations as co-ops,” said Member of Parliament Daw Kyi Par at the Yangon Parliament last week.

There are currently 2,282 cooperatives registered across 44 townships in Yangon Region. The co-ops occupy 1,588 buildings and were formed based on the outdated 1992 Cooperative Law.

The Cooperative Department under the Ministry of Cooperatives has already shuttered 36 co-ops in Yangon during the 2016 – 2017 fiscal year, said U Han Htoon, Minister at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation.

The co-ops are typically involved in the production, services and trading sectors, providing microfinance and helping farmers get access to machines needed for production and trade.

According to available documents, there were 1,030 productive cooperative associations, 861 service cooperative associations and 937 trading cooperative associations as at January 2018.

“We need to know that these associations are operating according to the Cooperative Law,” said Daw Kyi Pyar.

‘’We can abolish the co-ops which are not operating in accordance with the Cooperative Law. This includes having too few members or insufficient funds or insolvency, said U Han Htoon.

Source: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/government-shutter-co-ops-operating-against-law.html