PLN expands power to Thousand Islands

Fri, 03/14/2008 11:20 AM  |  City

JAKARTA: Residents of Untung Jawa subdistrict in Thousand Islands regency now have 24-hour electricity thanks to a new undersea power cable that began operation Thursday.

Mining Agency head Peni Susanti said eventually every district in the regency would have power.

"We expect to link power to all of Selatan district in the Thousand Islands, reaching a total of 1,500 families," she said as quoted by Beritajakarta.com.

The district consists of seven subdistrict islands, including Untung Jawa.

State power firm PLN says it will soon bring power to another two subdistricts.

The Untung Jawa branch of PLN has installed electricity to 300 of 405 connections needed in the subdistrict and will use a pre-paid billing system for the service.

PLN president director Fahmi Muchtar said the company would start construction of power infrastructure for Utara district next year.

Though Thousand Islands is part of Jakarta, previously the only source of electricity for the regency was a power generator, the operation of which cost Rp 40 billion (US$4.3 million) from the city budget.

Each subdistrict took turns receiving limited power from the generator. --JP

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.