Meanwhile, field measurements have been completed for building the aerial electric power transmission apparatus, said U Hla Thein, chairman of an Arakan State Information Department  subcommittee working on the project. He also added that a German engineering team went to the site on September 10th.

“They went to Manaung for field measurements and have already returned after finishing their work,” said U Hla Thein.

The power connection to Manaung was a real challenge for the authorities, as it was almost impossible to lay wires to the islands from the mainland. Moreover, the electricity from a gas turbine project in nearby Kyouk Phyu isn’t accessible by wire.

Meanwhile, Burma President U Thein Sein visited Germany on September 3rd to study the potential for aerial electric power. President Thein Sein’s trip included a visit to an energy efficient village in Berlin to learn about the project.

The Arakan State government confirmed there was a meeting between Burma’s president and German energy officials who administer the village.

Locals in the Manaung islands have told their political representatives they are happy about the power projects.

Yet U Tin Shwe, an Arakan National Party central committee member of from the area, said that he hadn’t received any information about the German team’s visit to Manaung, although he said he supported the power project for the benefit of the locals.

Currently, the state government and the local cooperative committee for consuming electricity are distributing electricity from 6:30pm to 11pm every day. The supply of electricity in the morning is restricted before 5:45am and after 6:15am.

The electricity department charges every consumer family 35 kyat per unit of electricity for the first 20 units, and the cost increases to 400 kyat per unit after 20 units of consumption.

The Arakan State government has yet to announce the date the power project will be commissioned.