The Southeast General Energy and Power Co., Ltd (SEGEP), which is constructing electrical infrastructure for southern Ye Township, Mon State, will not complete the project before Water Festival, or Thingyan, as planned, according to the State’s Minister of Electricity, Energy and Industry, Min Htin Aung Han.
“It will be impossible to give residents access to electricity before Thingyan. The project was approved by the cabinet but because it was not at first approved by the Hluttaw, it started very slowly and cautiously,” he said, referring to the state parliament.
Although the company had promised that it would start distributing electricity at the start of the April festival, by the end of March they had only installed utility poles in 4 villages, and had not even completed construction of the Zi-phyu-taung power plant, according to a Ye Township resident.
“We have seen them installing wires and other electrical infrastructure, but the power plant is still far from completed. Maybe if the company were to bring in a diesel generator they could hook that up, but the fuel oil plant that they promised will not be ready in time,” said U Aung Naing Win, the secretary of a Ye Township civil society organization that is reviewing the project.
He also pointed out that SEGEP, the electrical company, did not at first get formal approval from the Hluttaw, but instead signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the cabinet. An MoU is a much weaker agreement, which U Aung Naing Win said made the building illegal. SEGEP set up an office in Ye in December 2016 and began implementing the project based on the MoU shortly thereafter, but it was not until March that the Mon State Hluttaw approved the project during its fifth session.
U Chit Tin, a Ye Township representative in the Mon State Hluttaw, said that parliamentary approval should not be treated as a blank check.
“Although Hluttaw has approved the energy distribution plan, we did so under the condition that it be completed by Thingyan. If they do not finish the project in time they will lose our support and we will organize against them.”
When completed, the power distribution project will carry less than 30 megawatts of electricity, the limit on state-controlled electrical projects in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. As more generation capacity is added after completion, SEGEP will have to start working with the Myanmar Investment Commission, which handles planning on long-term projects.
After completing infrastructure in southern Mon State in April, SEGEP had planned to connect the rest of the township by the end of the year. They also plan to add nine MW from a hydroelectric plant in Kalaw village and 28 MW from a similar plant in Kyaung Ywa village by the end of 2018.
