Street clashes across Burma as protests grow over series of power cuts

PROTESTERS clashed with police in Burma yesterday as they demonstrated against recent power cuts.

Several people were arrested during the protests, which are proving a test of the tolerance of a reformist government after decades of military rule.

Burma has suffered from power shortages for more than a decade. It has plentiful natural gas supplies, but a poor power distribution network, which has failed to cope as the economy has grown.

“The police tried to take some leaders and people tried to stop them,” said one witness in Pyay. “The police beat the protesters with rubber and bamboo sticks to disperse them. They beat them on their heads, backs and legs. But no-one was seriously injured.”

Protests over power cuts began on Sunday in Mandalay and have spread to at least four other locations, challenging the new government of president Thein Sein. The previous military regime, in which he also served, sought to restrict protests, fearing they could evolve into a broader revolt. In 2007, street protests snowballed into an uprising led by Buddhist monks that the army quashed.