KO PYAE, who works at a garment factory in Hlinethaya Industrial Zone, had their phone stolen near the Aungzeya Suspension Bridge, which connects Insein and Hlinethaya. Such an incident oc­curred at about 9 pm when he re­turned home after his overtime duties at the factory. Due to the darkness at night, he could see two individuals coming towards him in the opposite direction, but he could not remember them clearly. One of the two suddenly held the handle of a bicycle rid­den by Ko Pyae. As riding the bicycle was out of control for a while, another person snatched a mobile phone from the hand of Ko Pyae. As such, the bicy­cle fell over. Because the two sides were uneven in strength, all Ko Pyae could do was shout, asking why they took his phone. The two thieves ran toward the suspension bridge, but Ko Pyae could not pursue them.

Ko Pyae’s mother re­marked, “If there were a proper electricity supply, this wouldn’t have happened. Even now, the power is out. Because it’s dark, it gives people who do bad things an opportunity. Fortunately, the two snatchers did not attack his son.”From then on, no matter what happens, Ko Pyae does not work extra time. In some neighbourhoods of Yangon, the power outage at night forces people to rely on the light from their mobile phones. This situ­ation creates opportunities for wrongdoers, thieves, and crimi­nals to commit theft. Not only in Yangon but also in other major cities, including Mandalay, dark­ness at night gives criminals the chance to commit bad deeds. They break the law without fear, committing theft, robbery, and even murder.

“Everyone needs to take care when going outside at night. Some criminals commit robbery openly. Those robbers not only take property but also harm the victims. I have expe­rienced a case where a victim was struck on the head in an attempt to kill him. Fortunately, he escaped death. But his motor­cycle was taken,” said a resident of Mandalay.

People like Ko Pyae, who are unavoidably travelling at night, are suffering from the dis­advantages of insufficient elec­trification. Lighting along the routes reduces the fear and wor­ries of people with mental health issues. Street lighting prevents wrongdoers and criminals from taking advantage of darkness to break the law. Under the light, their movements can be easily seen, reducing the opportunity for them to commit crimes.

Electricity is an essential in­frastructure for the daily routine of the people and their educa­tion, healthcare and economic sectors. Only then will the sup­ply of electricity help operate industries at full capacity and the productivity improve. Con­sequently, electricity can bene­fit the socioeconomic life of the people and the development of relevant regions.

When the urban lifestyle im­proves, newer electronic equip­ment flows into the market day by day. On the other hand, the electricity consumption of the people exceeds the generating capacity of the energy, causing a high electricity demand. As such, it remains a challenge in electrifying houses and roads and fully meeting the power needs required to maintain the productivity of factories and in­dustries.

The government is urging people to follow electricity-sav­ing methods to help meet the nation’s power needs. In addi­tion to conservation measures, efforts are also being made to explore both short- and long-term ways to increase electricity production.

The majority of countries across the world manage to generate electricity from nu­clear, hydropower, natural gas, coal, solar energy, wind power, biofuel, tidal power, geothermal energy and other waste. As no two countries can be similar in strong and weak points, every country needs to utilize the nec­essary resources suitable for it.

No matter what energy source is used, there are always both advantages and disadvan­tages. No electricity generation brings only benefits without any harm. However, by carefully con­sidering factors such as energy efficiency, the natural environ­ment, and economic impacts, and with the advancement of modern technology, efforts can be made to maximize benefits while minimizing negative ef­fects.

Rivers and creeks, hilly are­as and heavy rainfalls in Myan­mar are wonderful resources to implement hydropower projects. Myanmar possesses great po­tential for generating hydropow­er. So, the country ranks 14th worldwide in terms of abundant hydropower resources. It is nec­essary to manage the compre­hensive utilization of such an advantage, and if Myanmar ef­fectively utilizes hydropower, it could meet the country’s current electricity demand while also generating foreign exchange through the energy sector.

Main arteries of Myanmar — the Ayeyawady, the Chindwin, the Thanlwin and the Sittoung rivers — are primary sources to generate hydropower. In fact, hy­dropower is one of the renewa­ble energies. Due to minimizing carbon emissions, hydropower is an environmentally friendly way to generate energy.

As for Myanmar, although initial agreements were made to develop hydropower, various factors have delayed the con­tinued implementation of these projects. According to assess­ments conducted in 2005, it was estimated that hydropower re­sources could generate around 45,000 megawatts. However, due to various reasons, actual production has not yet reached this potential, with current out­put achieving only slightly over seven per cent of the projected capacity.

Based on observations, the Shwesaryay hydropower pro­ject and Htamanthi hydropow­er project will be implement­ed on the Chindwin River, the Tahsan hydropower project on the Thanlwin River and the Myitson hydropower project on the Ayeyawady River. It was assessed that the hydropower project, located far upstream on the Ayeyawady River, 23 miles (37 kilometres) from Myitkyina in Kachin State, is expected to meet the electricity demand of the growing population in the fu­ture. China is prepared to imple­ment the construction of eight dams, including Chipwenge dam, generating 99 megawatts, which can be provided for the construction of seven reservoirs and seven dams at the conflu­ence of the N’Maikha (Maykha) and Malikha rivers, where the Ayeyawady River originates, and tributary rivers to generate some 20,000 megawatts.

SPIC stated that the largest project can generate 6,000 mega­watts, the Laiza (Maliyang) pro­ject 2,800 megawatts, the Chip­we project 3,400 megawatts, the Usauk project 2,500 megawatts, the Phisau project 2,400 mega­watts, the Khaunglanphu project 3,000 megawatts, the Rinan pro­ject 1,400 megawatts, totalling more than 20,000 megawatts. Upon completion, these projects will help Myanmar and its people expect a 100 per-cent-electricity supply across the nation in 2030. If so, based on hydropower re­sources, a strong energy sector can be established in the future to support economic growth and development.

Whether employees are re­turning home late at night or have to travel out of necessity, the anxiety caused by darkness while moving around can now be overcome. With the support of advanced technology, standards for environmental protection, so­cial and community impacts, po­tential losses of water resourc­es, and long-term sustainability based on the projects have all been carefully considered. For these reasons, there is no longer any justification for Myanmar’s lifeline, the Ayeyawady River, to be neglected or left at risk.

The public understands that the hydropower projects halted for various reasons are the main cause of insufficient electricity. Looking to the future, they hope that these projects will bring light, benefiting Myanmar and all ethnic communities across the country.

Translated.