JAKARTA. Although Indonesia’s economic growth is considered good and has received international praise, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has said he often feels ashamed by electricity shortages faced by provinces across the country.
“When I visited various countries, many countries praised our economic growth, through which we could survive the economic downturn [that affected] almost all countries across the globe,” the President said during a visit to Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), on Saturday.
“Some countries exhibited negative growth while others experienced very low growth, and there were countries with a decline in their economies. They praised us but I myself felt ashamed because if they knew that in our provinces the electricity supply is still on and off [they would not commend us]. Power blackouts still happen frequently due to electricity supply shortages,” he said.
The President was speaking at a mobile power plant (MPP) project in Jeranjang, West Lombok, NTB, on Saturday.
Jokowi said electricity was a grassroots problem in Indonesia, which must be resolved as it had become a primary need in people’s lives.
“Electricity is needed for households that run sewing businesses, or small and medium enterprises. They need electricity to sew at night or to make snacks. Children need electricity to study at night. It will be difficult for them to work on their school assignments without electricity. This is a concrete problem faced by common people,” he said.
Jokowi said the government, through its 35,000 Megawatt (MW) electricity program, would continue to push the development of energy sources — primarily new and renewable — especially in regions with power shortages, including NTB.
The construction of the MPP project with a capacity of 2 x 25 MW in Jeranjang began earlier in the year, but the ground-breaking ceremony was only officially conducted during Jokowi’s visit on Saturday.
First Lady Iriana Widodo, state electricity firm PLN’s president director Sofyan Basir, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said, State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno and NTB Governor M. Zainul Majdi also attended the ceremony.
“The MPP Jeranjang is a gas-fueled power plant so it is predicted it can save around Rp 26 billion [US$1.95 million] of state funds per year,” said Sofyan. The MPP Jeranjang is expected start to operating in September 2016. (Panca Nugraha)
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