VILLAGERS IN PAPUA, WEST PAPUA RECEIVE SPECIAL GIFT FOR CHRISTMAS by Fardah

   Jakarta, Dec 25, 2017 (Antara) - President Joko Widodo recently delivered a special Christmas gift by inaugurating an electricity distribution network for the inhabitants of 74 villages in the provinces of Papua and West Papua, whose majority population are Christians.

          In celebrating Christmas this year, for the first time, the residents of Papua and West Papua were able to adorn their Christmas trees with colorful lamps, as state electricity company (PLN) has supplied electricity to 74 additional villages in the two provinces.  
     The 74 villages are part of the 191 villages in Papua and West Papua to which PLN will supply electricity.

          "This is a special gift for the people in remote villages in Papua and West Papua from PLN," Ahmad Rofik, the business director for Maluku and Papua regions, noted in a press release on December 19, 2017.

          During the inauguration of the Nabire Power Plant in Papua Province on Dec 20, President Widodo stated that three thousand villages in Indonesia are yet to have access to power networks, and two thousands of them are in Papua.

          "I have ordered the ministry and PLN, so next year, all of them would have received power," the president remarked.

           Despite the high cost of construction in Papua, the government is committed to building infrastructure in Papua, including the power lines, to realize social welfare, Widodo remarked.  
    The government will fulfill the electricity needs of Papua's residents by utilizing solar cells and PLN's power lines.

INDONESIA'S AMBITIOUS 35,000 MW POWER PROGRAM TO BE ACCELERATED by Fardah

 Jakarta, June 11, 2016 (Antara) - The fact that many parts of Indonesia still suffer from power shortage at night is a cause for grave concern to President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

        Power shortage at night means that quite a few Indonesian children are unable to study in their homes.

        Lack of power supply in rural areas and kampongs has also forced many small-scale and micro businesses to shut down.

        Indonesia has a comparatively low overall rate of electrification for a middle-income country. As much as 20 percent of the population representing 50 million people does not have access to electricity, according to Energypedia.

        Some 50 percent of the population in Indonesia that goes without power actually lives in already electrified areas that would need grid densification programs. Besides, many cities have experienced frequent power outages due to power shortage.      
   A limited power supply, which results in the inability to meet growing needs, is caused by the lack of power plant development at the rate of 6.5 percent as compared to the 8.5 percent growth in electricity demand over the last five years.

        A power crisis would occur within the next three to four years if special attention is not paid or no breakthrough is made, the State Utility Company (PLN) has predicted.

         Currently, the total national installed capacity is 50 thousand megawatt (MW) produced by power plants built by the PLN and private companies since the PLN's establishment.

        To address the power shortage, the government plans to increase power capacity by 35 thousand MW, as stated in the National Mid-Term Development Plan 2015-2019.