Children play around electric poles after school in Kwanko village, Dompu Regency, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). The village is among 1,000 villages in NTB that have enjoyed electricity from extensive electrification expansion (Source: jakartapost)
Jakarta (VNA) – The Indonesian Government plans to invest at least 1,260 billion Rp (76.14 million USD) in electrifying 433 remote villages in the country’s four most impoverished provinces in 2020.
Speaking at a recent Cabinet meeting, President Joko Widodo said that the programme is part of efforts to provide electricity for the entire population this year.
State-owned electricity firm PLN pledged to deploy new technology in mapping and electrifying the 433 remote villages in Papua, West Papua, East Nusa Tenggara and Maluku.
PLN achieved a 98.89 percent ratio last year but it is struggling to cover the last mile, mainly due to logistical hurdles in the world’s largest archipelago.
“Once things return to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic, we will execute the programme,” said PLN president director Zulkifli Zaini after the meeting. “In fact, if possible, we want most of the 433 villages electrified by August 17,” which is Indonesia’s Independence Day.
To that end, the state electricity company plans to deploy new mapping technology in charting the hard-to-access villages, including their power needs and most readily available energy sources. Many of the targeted villages in Papua are located in densely forested mountain areas.
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