Villages under Kyain Seikgyi Township in the Karen State will submit a letter to the Karen State Chief Minister to immediately install solar panels in the villages, Dai Lut Village Administrator Mahn Tun Nyunt said.
The National Electrification Project (NEP) is a joint venture by the World Bank and the Rural Development Department to deliver electricity to rural villages. Over 1,800 households from 29 villages in Kyain Seikgyi Township have submitted two installments from May to August last year to receive the solar panels, local residents and township officials said.
“The villages have submitted two installments from May to August last year. They said the solar panels would be installed in March or May last year. We haven’t heard anything since then. Five villages will submit a letter to the Chief Minister together,” Mahn Tun Nyunt said to KIC News on 2 May.
He explained that the local villagers have questioned him daily about the installment of the solar panels and some villagers even have misunderstandings towards him. The villagers who could not wait for the solar panels have bought them on their own.
Saw Sar Dauk Phau, head of the Rural Development Department of Kyain Seikgyi Township, assured that the solar panels will be installed within this month.
“There were delays in inspecting the companies that participated in the tender system. The ICT company that won the tender will deliver the solar panels to the Karen State on the second week of May. We have received a letter from the department about the installation of the solar panels within this month. I guarantee that the villagers won’t lose their money,” he said.
The ICT company has won the tender to install solar panels in the Mon State, the Karen State, and the Tenasserim (Tanintharyi) Region. It is currently installing solar panels trials in Hpa-an Township and is expected to finish installing the solar panels in Kyain Seikgyi Township by August, he added.
Under the NEP project, the solar panels are divided into three types depending on their prices: 300,000 kyats, 480,000 kyats, and 520,000 kyats.
Villagers buying solar panels worth 300,000 kyats have to pay 30,000 kyats while those buying solar panels worth 480,000 kyats have to pay 50,000 kyats, and solar panels worth 520,000 kyats have to pay 80,000 kyats. The rest of the costs will be covered by the project, according to officials.
The implementation for the NEP started in 2014 with funds from the World Bank to install solar panels in villagers that are over five miles away from the national power grid.
Translated by Thida Linn
Edited by Laignee Barron
