The regime has reminded Mandalay residents whose homes were damaged in the March 28 earthquake that they still need to pay their electricity bills.
Power in Myanmar’s second-largest city was restored about a week after the earthquake.
Notices that have since been distributed in affected neighborhoods tell households with undamaged electricity meters to pay their March electricity bill as usual. For homes that suffered damage, the March and April electricity bills will be collected together in May.
If meters are too damaged to be read, residents must report the situation to the Chanmyathazi Township Electricity Office, the notice adds.
Many earthquake victims are angry.
“They came to give us the bill a few days ago even though my house is uninhabitable,” said one woman. “Before the earthquake, my usual bill was just over 10,000 kyats. This time, they billed me around 15,000 kyats. I haven’t paid it yet.”
One woman in Aungmyaythazan Township said: “They distributed the electricity bills for March before Thingyan, and we have paid it. It seems that the regime is deliberately troubling us while people are overwhelmed with distress and grief. Some people are refusing to pay.”
Mandalay is something of a thorn in the regime’s side because many residents joined the civil disobedience movement after the 2021 coup, refusing to make any kind of payment to the junta including utility bills.
The regime responded with power cuts in many neighborhoods and villages. Later, payment was collected by security personnel going door to door, and residents were hit with fines.
The earthquake claimed more than 3,700 lives in Mandalay, Naypyitaw, Sagaing, and Shan State, and casualties were the highest in Mandalay.
Thousands of buildings collapsed in the city, but the regime has barely assisted residents in clearing rubble and demolishing partially collapsed houses.
When Myanmar was hit by COVID-19 and businesses were affected, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) government temporarily reduced electricity fees and completely exempted households using less than 150 units per month.
