Govt has no money to fix tangled electrical cables in Yangon, residents told to do it

You see them on almost every street in Yangon: hopelessly tangled webs of electrical wires that pose an obvious hazard to public safety.

Dozens of people are reported to have been electrocuted in the city in recent weeks, a problem that has worsened with the rainy season.

But the government has said it does not plan to tackle the issue anytime soon, according to a report in today’s Global New Light of Myanmar. In fact, residents have been told that they should handle the dangerous cables themselves.

The Ministry of Electricity and Energy said in an announcement yesterday that the wire ‘nests’ have been spotted in 379 areas and, while 40 have been fixed, the department cannot afford to mend them all.

Instead, awareness campaigns have been conducted in relevant townships, the ministry added.

Speaking at a press conference in Naypyitaw yesterday, Thant Zin, General Manager of the Yangon Electricity Supply Corporation advised residents to mend the dangerous tangles themselves.

Given that an employee of the government’s own electricity department died trying to do this a few days ago, that doesn’t sound like a great plan.