Kalla delays cable plant

JAKARTA (JP): The Kalla Group has delayed its plan to build a electricity cable plant due to a domestic oversupply and the monetary turmoil.

Kalla owner Yusuf Kalla was quoted by Antara as saying in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi's capital, that the plant would be built by 2000 instead of this year as initially planned.

He said the Rp 25 billion (US$7.3 million) plant, which would be built near PT Kalla Electrical System's transformer plant and the Makassar Industrial Estate in South Sulawesi, would market its products in Eastern Indonesia.

He said the Kalla Group would continue to focus on infrastructure development through its subsidiaries PT Bukaka Teknik Utama; PT Bumi Karsa, a road contractor; its telecommunications arm PT Bukaka Singtel; PT Kalla Inti Karsa, a property developer; and PT Kalla Electrical Systems. (08)