Yangon, April (22)
Power outages have worsened day by day during the scorching summer following the military takeover, causing people to suffer more hardships at work and in their daily lives, the sources told Than Lwin Times.
The power distributed by the Ministry of Electricity in Myanmar has been continuously cut off for hours following the military coup.
The Electricity Department has announced that it will distribute electricity on a rotating system, not 24 hours a day, but until today, electricity has not been provided regularly; people are suffering from severe power cuts.
A person who lives in Mon State said that electricity is only available for around three hours starting at 12:00 PM, when people are sleeping, and it was quite hot because he lacked electricity to pump water and turn on the fan in hot weather.
With severe power outages, people are forced to use wood, charcoal, and gas for cooking, rely on rechargeable lamps and candle lights at night, while small businesses run on generators.
Prior to Thingyan in Mawlamyine, electricity was provided to the communities, which were divided into three groups, by a rotating system: two hours at a time and four times daily, and they only received eight hours of power a day. However, electricity is currently not provided on time.
An SME entrepreneur told Than Lwin Times that he is facing various difficulties due to the worsening power outages, as he has to use the generator almost full-time, resulting in high general expenses.
Currently, due to the hot weather, drinking water for daily life and water for washing and cooking are drying up, and even in Yangon City, power outages last for hours.
A resident of Yangon said, “The electricity is unavailable, and the temperature is rising. I feel the heat when I sleep at night and that I have to use charcoal for cooking, which increases the cost”.
The Yangon Electricity Corporation has issued an emergency reduction in electricity load due to the reduction in the capacity of hydropower plants in the summer and the maintenance of power line towers that transmit electricity.
A resident of Yangon told Than Lwin Times, “The military council is using the bomb blasts as excuses and is doing the distribution of electricity as they like, and the people living under the military regime will not live long”.
On the other hand, for the fiscal year 2023–2024, the defense budget of the military council was allowed to spend more than 5,600 billion kyats, but only over 682 billion kyats for the electricity sector, according to the Union budget Law.
The junta Ministry of Electric Power has announced that it is trying to ensure that the people have full access to electricity by 2025, adjusting and distributing it according to the needs of the public as much as possible.
News – Than Lwin Times
Photo: CJ