PLN criticized for lack of rural electricity

PLN criticized for lack of rural electricity

Ida Sjachrul, a 40-year-old journalist from Palembang, South
Sumatra, could not hide her emotions during a two-day workshop on
the power sector organized by state electricity company PT PLN
last week in Anyer, Banten.

Soon after the moderator opened the question-and-answer
session, Ida stood and voiced complaints about the power service
in the province.

Power blackouts now routinely occurred in Palembang and its
surrounding areas, while many rural areas in the province still
had no access to electricity, 57 years after Indonesian
independence, she said.

This was ironic in view of the fact that South Sumatra was
abundant in coal, which was the main fuel source for generating
power in the country, she said.

"It is unfair that Java and Bali have enough power supplies
while South Sumatra, which regularly exports coal to the Suralaya
power plant, the largest power plant for Java and Bali, lacks
electricity," Ida pointed out.

She was referring to PLN's 3,400 megawatt (MW) coal-fired
power plant in Suralaya, Banten. The Java-Bali power grid has a
total supply of more than 18,600 MW.

Ida's statement reflects the grievances felt by many people
outside Java and Bali over the national power distribution
structure, which leaves a large gap between Java-Bali and other
islands in the country.

Currently, according to PLN's data, there are some 52 percent
of Indonesians who have access to electricity services, most of
whom live in Java and Bali.

Electrification ratio -- the percent of people having access
to power as compared to the population -- in Java and Bali has
reached 59.4 percent this year. In comparison, the
electrification ratio for Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and the
Eastern parts of Indonesia, including Papua, were at 53.1
percent, 46.6 percent, 47.2 percent and 33 percent, respectively.

According to observers, the difference in the electrification
ratio was primarily because Java and Bali have more investment
than the other islands.

PLN is more interested in investing in Java-Bali than other
islands, because both Java and Bali offer better returns on
investment.

In Papua, for example, PLN spent Rp 470 billion in production
and investment costs in 2002, but only collected Rp 162 billion
in revenues. This means PLN suffered a loss of Rp 308 billion in
the area last year.

"This has discouraged the company from pouring more money into
the region," said Tulus Abadi of the Indonesian Consumers
Foundation (YLKI) during the workshop.

He also blamed the government for the gap in the
electrification ratio, saying that in the past, it had focused on
the development of power plants in Java and Bali while neglecting
other islands, on the ground that Indonesian development was
concentrated on these two islands.

"Of course, this is not right. It means that we favored the
residents of Java and Bali at the expense of others," said J.
Purwono, director for electricity business supervision at the
directorate general of electricity and energy.

Purwono said that the government had been trying to address
the problem since last year.

Steps that had already been taken by the government included
allocating "huge" funds to build small-scale power plants, such
as mini-hydro and diesel power plants.

"This year, funds allocated toward these projects amount to Rp
4.5 trillion," he said.

He added that the passing of the Electricity Law of 2002,
which liberalizes the country's power sector, could bring new
hopes for people living outside Java and Bali.

Under the law, Java, Bali and Batam will be opened to free
competition by 2007, allowing the government to focus its power
development program on other islands. The law also allows local
governments to invite investors to build power plants in their
respective areas.

These developments have made the government optimistic that
the country's electrification ratio will improve in the coming
years.

JP/2/Aceh

1 x 25

New violence mars Aceh peace

The killing of four Acehnese in the latest violence spree on
Saturday, has widen the distrust between the government and the
Free Aceh Movement (GAM), pushing their three-month old peace
agreement further to the brink of collapse.

Two Acehnese died burning, when an unidentified armed group
set fire on 12 cars during a sweeping operation nearby the town
of Takengon in Central Aceh.

A drive-by shooting nearby the town of Lhokseumawe in North
Aceh killed another two.

"The peace agreement has reached a critical period," said Aceh
observer Otto Syamsuddin Ishak of the Civil Society Alliance for
Democracy (Yappika) in Jakarta.

He said that despite the steady progress in implementing the
points of the peace accord, mutual confidence on either side was
running thin.

The Indonesian military (TNI) and GAM blame each other for the
violation of the cease fire accord, showing little of the
confidence building that the agreement demanded.

China/2

2 x 22

Indonesia congratulates
China's new leaders

The Indonesian government congratulated the people of China for
the election of the country's new leaders, and hoped to
strengthen the ties between the two countries.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Marty Natalegawa said on
Sunday that Jakarta highly valued its blossoming relations with
Beijing and would be ready to engage further in more cooperation
with the new government.

"We congratulate the people of China for this important
development and we look forward to further cooperation with
China," Marty told The Jakarta Post.

Marty further remarked that Jakarta was assured that with the
new leaders the relations of the two largest countries in East
Asia will remain and ahead for betterment.

"The two countries had a strong traditional ties and expected
to elevate in the future," he underlined.

It was not clear, however, whether Indonesian President
Megawati Soekarnoputri had sent a message to the new leaders of
China.

Over the weekend China's parliament appointed Hu Jintao as the
country's new President and Wen Jiabao as new premier, to replace
Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji respectively.

Wen was Zhu's vice premier and a respected figure on the
international stage.

Jakarta, reinstated its diplomatic relations with Beijing in
the early 1990s, and has enjoyed growing ties especially after
the appointment of Megawati as the country's president in 2001.

Founding president Sukarno, Megawati's father, was China's
close friend, and since 2001 the two countries' leaders have
exchanged visits.

Indonesia also received financial gain from Asia's newest
economic power and world's sixth-biggest economy with economic
growth up by 8 percent last year.

Indonesia recently clinched a deal to export liquefied natural
gas worth US$8.5 billion from Tangguh in Papua, to Fujian
province.

Indonesia has also signed the first-ever loan agreement with
Beijing in which the latter would lend US$400 million to support
several infrastructure projects.

Indonesia has a "one China policy" and has proved its
commitment by rejecting the visit of Taiwanese President Chen
Shui-bian last year, despite the fact that Taiwanese investors
are the country's fifth largest in terms of trade revenue.

The Indonesian government is expected to issue an official
statement on the election of the new Chinese leaders on Monday.