Power crisis still plagues SE Sulawesi

Power crisis still plagues SE Sulawesi

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Southeast Sulawesi provincial government has allocated Rp 20
billion (US$2.5 million) of its 2004 budget to purchase 5
Megawatt (MW) diesel power generators.

The procurement aims to solve the electricity crisis still
plaguing the province, said Aminuddin Arief, head of the
Southeast Sulawesi Mines and Energy office in Kendari.

However, Aminuddin acknowledged that the purchase would not
resolve the problem completely, as the generator could only
provide electricity for 5,000 customers, while 10,000 customers
were currently on the waiting list.

"The number of people in the province who do not enjoy
electricity services is much, much bigger," he said.

The first 5 MW diesel generator has partly been installed at
state electricity company PT PLN's Kendari office.

Aminuddin said the provincial government and PT PLN had come
to an agreement on the purchase of the generator.

Under the agreement, PT PLN is to buy power from the
provincial government at a price set by the two parties.

In return, PT PLN is to distribute the power to the public.

Aminuddin admitted that both the provincial government and PT
PLN might suffer from losses, as the operation costs of a power
plant was generally greater than the income made from electrical
power sales.

He added that the Southeast Sulawesi government needed an
additional Rp 20 billion to procure another 5- to 10 MW diesel
generator to meet the demands of the remaining 5,000 customers.

According to Aminuddin, many regencies are in dire need of
power, especially villages, as PLN currently supplies power to
only 62 percent of villages in Southeast Sulawesi.

In several cases, while high-voltage electricity cables have
been installed in the area, villagers do not yet receive
electricity due to the lack of low-voltage cables.

"Villagers often say that electricity in Southeast Sulawesi
are not supplied to villages, but only pass by them," he said, as
quoted by Antara.

He said the scarcity of electricity had long been a problem in
Southeast Sulawesi, but the central government had made only a
cursory effort to resolve the matter.