71 villages in C. Java not yet electrified

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang, Central Java

Central Java will carry out a community-based electricity program, besides speeding up the establishment of several power plants, to meet the increasing demand for power in the province, says governor Mardiyanto.

"The provincial administration will encourage villages that are not yet electrified to partly finance the program so that they could enjoy electricity immediately," he said here over the weekend.

He said that the 71 villages had not been electrified because they were located in remote areas that could not be connected with the power networks belonging to the state-owned PT PLN.

Mardiyanto explained that several villages could develop a village cooperative to represent them to work with the local administration to construct a power generator. He said the village cooperative would manage the power plant and distribute the power to the villages.

He also said that the demand for power had increased to 7,000 megawatts in line with the increasing number of factories and households in the province. With the existing power plants, the province can produce only 1,700 Megawatts.

To meet the increasing power needs, he said, the provincial government had encouraged the central government and PLN to speed up several power plant projects in the north and south of the province.

"We are working hard to increase the province's production capacity to around 5,500 megawatts with the new power projects in the province," he said.

He cited the Tanjung Jati B power project in Jepara, which is expected to produce 1,300 megawatts, the power project in Tambak Lorok with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts, the power project in Dieng, with 60 megawatts and the power plant project in Cilacap recently inaugurated by President Megawati Soekarnoputri that will have a production capacity of 6,600 megawatts.

The President also inaugurated Tanjung Jati A and Tanjung B was inaugurated last month, he said: "We are seeking foreign investors to invest in the power sector because it would give benefits to the local administration."

The power plants in the province have also given a significant contribution to the Java-Bali distribution networks, he added.

The governor said he had also asked the local PLN office to enhance cooperation with the local police to curb rampant power theft in the province.

Spokesman for the Central Java and Yogyakarta PLN region Embut Subiyanto said that the police had arrested a number of people for stealing power from the PLN network and a substantial number of main circuit boards (MCB).

"PLN will continue to cooperate with the police to stop the power theft and thieves, especially industries, should be given harsher punishment and fines," he said.