Maungdaw District grappling with power cut for nearly one month

By Kyaw Myo Aung 16 Nov 2020

Kyaw Myo Aung | DMG
16 November 2020, Maungdaw

Residents of northern Arakan State’s Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships have gone nearly a month without electricity, making daily life difficult and driving up the prices of alternative energy sources like charcoal.  

Officials from Maungdaw District’s electricity engineer office have said the power cables between Hteeswe and Thaungdaya villages in Rathedaung Township have been severed since October 18.

Daw Pan Shaw Yi, a resident of Myoma Kanyintan ward in Maungdaw town, said locals were facing challenges cooking as charcoal prices had gone up since the electricity was cut.

“It has been one month that we haven’t had power. We are in difficulties. A bag of charcoal used to be K4,000. Now, it is K10,000. I have no idea how to cook rice,” she said.

Local residents say they are using generators, batteries and solar panels to make up for the lack of electricity from the grid, driving up prices related to all of the above.

Maungdaw resident Ko Maung Maung Thein urged authorities to restore power as soon as possible.

“The problems we are facing are numerous. Generator prices have increased. And phone charging and cooking rice are not OK. Yesterday, we bought a generator but it didn’t fit our needs well and we had to exchange it for another one. The difficulties are numerous. Charcoal prices are rising. So, we’d like to see the electricity restored as soon as possible,” he said.

An engineer from the Maungdaw District electricity engineer office, U Hein Moe Htet, said crew could not yet go to repair the electrical cable connection due to security concerns in the area.

“As far as I know, a line maintenance group has sought approval from the state government and union government to go to the other side and fix the problem. We have been trying our best to fix the problem soonest. It is due to security in the area that we still cannot go,” he said.

In August, both Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships suffered blackouts for more than 10 days after artillery fire hit a power line. In April, the two townships and neighbouring Rathedaung Township also experienced blackouts that lasted more than 20 days.