Yangon (AsiaNews) - Burmese authorities claim that electricity is back to normal in most parts of the country except in some areas of Yangon and Mandalay. Citing government sources, the Biweekly Eleven News said that the emergency is over.
Recently, protesters took to the streets, a rare event in Myanmar, to complain about power shortages. They blame government policy focused on selling power abroad rather than meeting domestic demand.
Things are back to normal following repairs to four towers in the Shweli-Mansan national power grid, which were taken out of commission by a mine blast attributed to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Namkham Township in northern Shan state on 19 May. However, the resumption of normal power supply falls short of the needs of industry and individual consumers.
Power supply problems include a lack of sufficient power plants, a weak national grid distribution system and overall poor power infrastructure. Many businesses and citizens rely on power generators to offset the shortages.
Rangoon industrial zones are still barred from using electricity for a fixed period of six hours at night to enable power to be shifted to public use when such use is at a peak between 5 to 11 pm.
Responding to the country's lack of sufficient electricity, the government has announced that J Power Co of Japan will build a coal-fired 660-mw power plant as well as 500-mw gas-fired plant in cooperation with BKB of South Korea. According to the Ministry of Electric Power, power demand has hit 1,890 mw against actual supply of 1, 500 mw.
Meanwhile, controversy still dogs the Minister of Electrical Power Zaw Min, whose competence has been questioned and who has been blamed for the current crisis.
Burmese activists and experts have attacked him because he lied to the public when he said that Myanmar had much more power than it needed and could afford to sell abroad excess production.
In reality, foreign sales are the main cause of domestic crises. Fires in private homes have also been blamed on shortages, as people are forced to use candles or generators, which they sometimes leave unsupervised.
Similarly, Minister Zaw Min has been lambasted for overexploiting natural resources and harming people's lives and welfare.
At the same time, the government lacks the experts and skilled people who could make a serious contribution to the country's development.
For this reason, activists want the minister and his circle of cronies to be removed or that at least they take some responsibility for the situation and resign.