WORK on getting exclusive electricity supplies to fisheries factories ahead of the dry months following monsoon should be fully completed by March next year, the director general of the Department of Fisheries, U Khin Maung Aye, told a meeting of fishery sector entrepreneurs.

Factories were encouraged in June to sign on to the scheme in the hope it would provide them with 24-hour power.

In all, 68 out of 85 eligible factories agreed to the plan, which they must finance themselves by paying for necessary substations and connecting power lines.

“We are waiting for the parts we need from abroad and we expect that all work will be finished within two or three months,” said factory owner U Tun Aye, referring specifically to his Shwe Yamon Company’s processing plant at the Hlaing Thar Yar Industrial Zone.

The scheme, being organised by the Department of Fisheries in conjunction with the Yangon Electricity Supply Board (YESB), is aimed at keeping plants operating so they can increase exports and earn more foreign currency for Myanmar.

Daw Toe Nandar Tin, owner of the Anawar Dawi fishery processing plant in Dawbon township, said it would cost K6-10 million to set up the new electricity connection to her factory.

“According to the distance between the main power line and my factory, the initial calculations show that amount,” she said at a special meeting held to discuss the project.

Fish Farmers Association chairman U Than Lwin said the scheme should be expanded to cover ice factories.

“Ice factories should also get electricity because ice plays a crucial role in the fishery sector,” he said. “If they can get more electricity, production costs can be reduced for ice and that would eventually reduce costs for the fishery sector too.”

Many factories have welcomed the move to supply more electricity as it cuts back on the need to run costly diesel generators, which U Than Lwin said doubled ice production costs.

Although the initial plan included providing the nine fish-feed factories in Yangon with 24-hour electricity, the YESB said it was now considering reducing this, possibly to 18 hours a day.

“Processing factories and cold storage facilities need electricity around the clock because of the nature of their work, but for factories producing fish feed, I think they would be okay if they got power for 18 hours a day,” an official from YESB told The Myanmar Times on condition of anonymity.