Power price hike policy must be canceled: NGOs<\/p>\n
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have demanded that the
\ngovernment cancel its quarterly power price hike policy as it
\nwould only further burden poor people.<\/p>\n
They said that an independent review of the policy must be
\ncarried out first before the government proceeds with it.<\/p>\n
Fabby Tumiwa of the Working Group on Power Sector
\nRestructuring (WG-PSR) said on Sunday that the current power
\nprice was already too expensive for lower-income households.<\/p>\n
\"On average, according to our survey, poor families must
\nallocate 10 percent of their total monthly spending on
\nelectricity. This is too much,\" said Fabby.<\/p>\n
The state-owned electricity company will increase its power
\nprices again on April 1 as provided for under the government's
\npower price policy.<\/p>\n
Since 2001, PLN has been raising its power prices by an
\naverage of 6 percent every quarter. The government's power price
\npolicy is aimed at bringing domestic electricity prices up to an
\naverage level of 7 U.S. cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) by 2005.<\/p>\n
The higher electricity prices are necessary to help avoid PLN
\nfrom going bankrupt and attract new investment to the sector to
\nprevent a power crisis in the future.<\/p>\n
The current average price level of Rp 488 per kWh is equal to
\naround 5.42 U.S. cents.<\/p>\n
But Fabby warned that another increase in power prices would
\nfurther reduce the purchasing power of low-income people, who
\nhave already suffered from years of economic difficulties.<\/p>\n
Business Watch Indonesia (BWI), another NGO, shared Fabby's
\nview.<\/p>\n
Yanuar Nugroho of BWI said that PLN must not concentrate on
\nboosting profit at the expense of low-income people.<\/p>\n
He said that raising power prices would negatively affect the
\nwelfare of poor families.<\/p>\n
Separately, Suyono, a driver with a courier company who lives
\nin Tangerang, strongly protested the power price hike policy.<\/p>\n
He said that his monthly income was only around Rp 1 million,
\nand he had to allocate around Rp 75,000 per month for electricity
\nalone.<\/p>\n
\"If the price (of electricity) continues to increase, it will
\nplace a major burden on our family,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/power-price-hike-policy-must-be-canceled-ngos-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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