Mawlamyine, 8 October
Most townships in the country have to deal with the worst power cuts in the more than two and a half years since the military coup, locals and businessmen told the Than Lwin Times.
Currently, urban areas only have access to electricity for about eight hours per day, while rural areas only have power for about three hours per day.
The military council’s Energy Distribution Department only provides power for two hours at a time, and it has been cut for more than four hours.
A local said, “The power outage has become very bad, and social life indicators have dropped to 80 percent. Even those who have money no longer have access to refrigerators, fans, and air conditioners. It also causes a lot of suffering for those who rely on this electricity to work. The current authority is different from the previous government.”
A businessman also said, “As the power outage worsens, the profits from the business become the cost of fuel for the generator, and we are now struggling not to stop the business. Production costs have also gone up, so we are reducing operations.”
According to the junta chief, just half of the country’s electric power requirement can be supplied, and the current crisis is the result of the suspension of power projects that were supposed to be implemented over the last decade.
Although the people are facing the worst of the power outages, the military council has installed specific power lines to distribute electricity 24 hours a day to government offices in the regions and states, including Nay Pyi Taw, where its administrative bodies operate.
The World Bank announced at the beginning of last year that the conflicts, severe power outages, and policy changes in Myanmar have permanently affected the country’s economy, and GDP per capita has reached 13 percent below the Pre-COVID-19 pandemic.
News – Than Lwin Times
Photo – CJ
Thanlwintimes