Germany quits power plan

Germany quits power plan

JAKARTA (JP): The German government has decided to cancel its plan to assist the construction of a hydro-power plant by Sentani lake in the Jayapura regency of Irian Jaya .

P. Sihombing, the planning director for state-owned electricity company PLN, said in Jayapura yesterday that the construction of the planned power station is not economically viable given the small number of industrial firms operating in the area.

"The construction cost of the planned power project is too high, in addition to social and cultural obstacles," he told the Antara news agency.

He said that PLN planned to build a medium-scale hydro-power plant in Tami river near the Irian Jaya-Papua New Guinea border to replace the canceled power plant in Sentani river.

He said that the demand for electricity in Irian Jaya is still low compared to other provinces.

Only 26 percent of around 2,000 villages in the province have access to electricity, he said. (hen)