• MSME sector paralysed: COSMI President
• Power outages affect FMCGs
• Small vendors, fish, and poultry shops affected
• Subcontractors unable to supply orders
• Power Ministry apologises to customers 

By Uwin Lugoda Frequent power cuts have left an already-struggling small business sector in further trouble, The Sunday Morning learns. According to industry stakeholders, the country’s prevailing forex situation that has fuelled frequent power cuts has predominantly impacted its Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector. According to the Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Industries (COSMI) Founder President Nawaz Rajabdeen, these power cuts have paralysed businesses with no access to a generator. The MSME sector in Sri Lanka has been dubbed the ‘backbone of the economy’ due to its contributions accounting for most of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employment. Data from the Ministry of Industries showcased that MSMEs account for more than 75% of the total number of enterprises, provide 45% of the employment, and contribute to 52% of the GDP. “These power cuts will paralyse the entire MSME sector and this will not only impact the small-scale shops but go all the way down to the small-scale manufacturers. When we take something like wood, the wood manufacturers are completely dependent on power, with their plants entirely being driven by power. These people need the power to run their machines and deliver the products to their customers on time,” said Rajabdeen. He explained that these power cuts further impacted both manufacturers and distributors of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs). Taking the dairy industry as an example, he stated that yoghurt manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors depended on constant power, with manufacturers needing the power to work the machines and suppliers and distributors needing it to keep yoghurt refrigerated.  “SME manufacturers do not have generators to run their machines and even if they do, a generator is not enough to power their production processes. Without power and thereby refrigeration, small-scale suppliers and distributors risk spoiling their stocks. Around 60% of MSMEs in Sri Lanka were already impacted by the ongoing pandemic, this will further aggravate that impact.” Moreover, Rajabdeen added that MSME-owned shops and supermarkets would also lose their cold storage facilities, leading them to have to throw away meats, dairy, and vegetables that had spoiled. He stated that these power cut-driven inconveniences would extend to larger corporations as well when taking into account the number of MSMEs currently sub-contracted by them. He opined that this would eventually spread through the country, impacting its exports before finally leading to an overall loss in revenue. “We already have enough issues. We are already impacted by other country-wide issues like petroleum and fertiliser, but this has the potential to completely paralyse the local MSME sector, leaving it needing recovery which may take around 30 years. The Government has to take a serious step towards preventing this, by finding a permanent solution to these four- or five-hour daily cuts. The President himself needs to look into this matter.” Rajabdeen stated that the impact could already be seen in 25 of the regional chambers from Jaffna to Hambantota, which were seeing lesser members visiting meetings due to financial constraints. He noted that in this state, the MSME sector would also see a large amount of unemployment, due to them not being able to retain their workers.   MSME experience Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Pasindu Maduranga, the owner of a small corner store in Pitakotte, stated that the daily power cuts had severely limited his shop hours, which had led to a lower daily wage. "When they cut our electricity during the day,  we can at least function at some capacity. But when they cut power past six in the evening, we cannot function at all. Candles help, but it’s too dangerous for us to leave them unattended,” said Maduranga. He claimed that none of his food had gone bad due to measures he had taken to keep them fresh. However, he explained that these measures included expensive tasks such as buying ice packs off larger supermarkets.  Maduranga also stated that while schools had begun, children coming to his store for dairy products like milk packets had reduced due to the products being uncomfortably warm to touch during the time of purchase.  Meanwhile, an official from a small-scale meat shop franchise stated that the power cuts had already caused the spoiling of their products twice.   They explained that if a power cut lasted longer than three hours, the meat on display had to be checked and replaced. If spoiled, this meat is thrown away to avoid accidental sale of an unfit product.  “Our eggs can stay without refrigeration, but the meat outside the freezer, like those in the display case, must be constantly checked. If we see that the product is spoiled, then we immediately throw it away,” said the official.  Government response  Ministry of Power Secretary Wasantha Perera expressed apologies to those being inconvenienced by the current power cuts. She stated that the present issue was due to dry weather impacting the country’s hydropower and a lack of fuel impacting its thermal power. She explained that the country was dependent on the availability of thermal fuel for the power stations, without which they were left to meet the gap via manual load shedding.  “I am also impacted by this not just as the Power Secretary, but also as a citizen of Sri Lanka. We are going through a really uncomfortable time and I am sorry to those being impacted by this,” Perera said. However, she stated that the manual load shedding was being done with the approval of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), which had recommended power cuts based on its scientific analysis.  “There are issues and we are working to slowly overcome them and meet targets. In this regard, we have been expediting the renewable additions to the grid with the help of the Sustainable Energy Authority (SEA), by managing to achieve a 100 MW wind power plant in Mannar in 2020, and awarding a 300 MW energy power plant in Kerawalapitiya set to be completed in the next two years.”