Mawlamyine, 10 August
More severe power outages have occurred in Mon State during the rainy season than summer, SME businessmen and locals told Than Lwin Times.
Last summer, junta-controlled electricity provider distributed electricity for eight hours a day, two hours at a time, to the divided neighborhoods and villages.
However, power outages are becoming more frequent, with houses receiving only four hours of power per day.
“With more power outages, we’re mostly using charcoal and gas for cooking, so the cost is rising,” one resident said.
“Industrial zones only get electricity for two hours a day, so it’s becoming more difficult to run businesses. The military council merely promises they will enhance the industries, but they cannot provide electricity regularly, there is still a long way to improve the industry, a SME entrepreneur said.
Apart from power outages, the people are also suffering from high prices of rice and basic food as a result of the military council’s mismanagement.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing noted that power generation projects were halted ten years ago for a variety of reasons, and that demand for electricity has skyrocketed since then.
In order to meet the demand for electricity, the military leader said at a meeting with Union Ministers on 8 August that it is being implemented to produce electricity using solar energy, wind power, and rice husk fuel.
According to the World Bank’s report released earlier this year, the country’s internal conflict, severe power shortages, and policy changes under military regime continue to have an adverse effect on Myanmar’s economy, and the GDP is 13 percent lower than it was pre-pandemic.
News-Than Lwin Times
Photo-CJ