North Hamgyong Province recently launched a large-scale crackdown on individuals with side businesses as part of efforts to curb their consumption of electricity.
“The province ordered local power transmission departments and electricity regulatory committees to conduct a month-long surveillance on private side-businesses such as [grain] mills on Feb. 14,” a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Monday. “Consequently, crackdowns and inspections were initiated on Feb. 16, which has led people with side jobs in the province to feel the pressure.”
According to the source, North Hamgyong Province must carry out national construction plans and the “people’s economic plans” with limited electricity supplied by state-run power plants. The province set out to limit the power usage of people with side businesses, claiming they are ignoring the province’s situation and recklessly consuming electricity.
Indeed, factories in the province, which operate in line with a system called “cross-production” (electricity is supplied to factories for only a set amount of time), have continued to manufacture defective products due to lack of voltage or have operated inefficiently even when they receive electricity.
In response, North Hamgyong Province is aiming to crack down on side business owners who use high-power electric motors “without regard for the nation’s situation” while bribing officials in the power transmission department for electricity when they do not have enough, the source explained.
Provincial authorities are particularly focused on conducting inspections on private businesses that depend on machines with electric motors, such as artificial meat pressers, bean oil squeezers, noodle makers, and powder grinders.
Private business owners say that they have had no choice but to use high-capacity transformers due to the lack of constant voltage and complain that it is absurd to suddenly seize and control the usage of transformers and motors that they had long been using.
“Electricity inspectors have been storming into [grain] mills almost every day,” the source said. “Each time, mill owners have bribed the inspectors so they turn a blind eye, but now with the additional set of inspections, the owners are complaining that life is difficult.”
With the authorities confiscating transformers or motors and even subjecting the owners to legal punishments, mill owners are expressing concern over the fact that they have to pay unreasonable amounts of money to retrieve their confiscated machines.
“Private side-businesses such as mills have already paid their fees to local power transmission departments in January for the use of transformers and motors over the entire year,” the source said, adding, “Mill owners are criticizing the authorities because they don’t expect to get their fees back despite the crackdowns.”
Translated by Youngheon Kim
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