Conflict and Candlelight

$10,000 - that's the price Pyi Rar and her fellow villagers were told to pay

if they wanted electricity in their small community

in Eastern Myanmar's Kaya state.

She used her local money lender to raise her $80 share

- a huge amount in this impoverished region.

But ten months later there's still no power

and authorities say villagers have to come up
with more cash if they want to get connected.

If we had electricity, we could cook and
use computers and the children could study.

I attended a computer class, but I can't
practice at home without power.

Only 30% of Myanmar's 51 million
people had access to electricity.

Even major cities see regular power cuts
which have ignited frustration and protests.

The government says it wants everyone
to have electricity by the year 2030.

If you look at many parts of urban areas,
actually the rate would go as high as 75%.

But, then, for the average to be 30%

you need to indeed consider that in many
rural areas this could be extremely low.

For those in rural and ethnic minority areas
power projects have long been associated

with land loss and conflict, not electricity.

Hydropower already provides most
of the energy in Myanmar.