Industrial Zones get only 5 hours worth of electricity

by Ni Moe Myint
Wednesday, 16 September 2009 21:49

Rangoon (Mizzima) – Industrial zones in Rangoon Division currently get electricity only for five hours per day as the Ministry of Energy has further reduced the power supply.

After the constant voltage fluctuation experienced in these industrial zones, the ration system has been started in these zones, since the first week of September. Under this new system, these zones are now getting power supply either from 7 a.m. to 12 noon or 12 noon to 5 p.m.

“In the previous 9-hours per day system, we could not supply full power and there was severe voltage fluctuation. In some factories, they could use this power supply only for lighting and for production and manufacturing they had to use their own backup power generators. So, we changed to this new system of supplying power only for five hours per day with full voltage, instead of more hours with low voltage,” an engineer from Industrial Zones Electric Power Supply Committee said.

Earlier, electricity was supplied to these industrial zones from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

“We consulted the members at the Industrial Zone Management Committee, about how to solve the problem, either 9 hours a day on alternate days or 9 hours daily. If they have to use their generators all day, there would be a risk of fire plus health hazards for the workers. So, we decided in consultation with them to supply only 5 hours a day,” he added. Moreover, the cost of diesel is higher than before by about Kyat 30,000 per barrel, which increases expenses for these factories.

Due to the low cost efficiency of running their own generators, some factories had to reduce the working hours by half.

The authorities instructed the factories in these industrial zones last month, to install their own power transformers and stabilizers to resolve the voltage fluctuation problem.

The electricity supply in Burma is monopolized by the Ministry of Energy. The official cost for power supply is only Kyat 50 per KWh, though they cannot supply adequate power. If they have to run their own generators, the cost for production of one KWh would be Kyat 300.

The power failure in Burma, where the junta has seized power by a military coup, since 1962, is routine and normal. But, the problem took a turn for the worse when these industrial zones appeared in the 1990s.