Habibie's son heading trade delgation to Taiwan: Official

JAKARTA (JP): Former U.S. secretary of state Warren Christopher met President B.J. Habibie on Monday to discuss the US$2.43 billion Paiton power project.

"We had an excellent meeting with the President and discussed the electrical power situation in Indonesia," Christopher told reporters after the meeting.

He, however, declined to give details of his visit and did not take any questions from the media.

An official at the Ministry of Mines and Energy told The Jakarta Post earlier that Christopher had been recruited as a commissioner by PT Paiton Energy Co., which owns the 1,230- Megawatt (MW) Paiton I power plant in East Java.

According to PLN data, the Paiton power plant in East Java is majority owned by Mission Energy. The other shareholders are Japan's Mitsui & Co. Ltd., and PT Batu Hitam Perkasa, controlled by Hashim Djojohadikusumo.

The Paiton I power project is one of the 10 power projects the government allowed to continue amid the monetary crisis but state electricity company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) is seeking to reschedule it to rein in on the power oversupply on the Java-Bali grid.

PLN is in dire financial trouble following the rupiah's depreciation against the dollar since mid-last year. The company sells power in rupiah, but pays most of its costs, including purchasing power from independent power producers (IPP), in dollars.

Director General of Electricity and Power Development at the Ministry of Mines and Energy Endro Utomo Notodisuryo, who was among those who accompanied Christopher to the palace, said Christopher reminded Habibie of the need to maintain his good image in the international community when dealing with problems related to IPP.

"The president responded that he was aware of that," Endro said.

PLN president Adhi Satria added that Edison Energy understood the difficulties faced by PLN on the agreed price and the distribution of the electricity.

"They are ready to renegotiate conditions for payment. Technical aspects of the power deals will be discussed further," he said.

Adhi Satriya has said the first unit of the power plant is scheduled to come on stream by early next year. (jsk)