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East Java gets light for Idul Fitri
Let there be light: Suharmuk, 43, a resident at Jirek Mas village in Bondowoso regency, East Java, checks the newly installed digital electricity meter at his house
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span class="inline inline-center">Let there be light: Suharmuk, 43, a resident at Jirek Mas village in Bondowoso regency, East Java, checks the newly installed digital electricity meter at his house. State-owned electricity firm PLN recently provided power to two villages in the region as part of its national program. (JP/Wahyoe Boediwardhana)
Suharmuk, 43, and his wife, Fitria, 35, who live in Jirek Mas village, Cermee district, Bondowoso regency, East Java, are hoping for a merrier Idul Fitri at home with their three children this year, now that their village has electricity.
A third-grade teacher at SD Jirek Mas 2 Bondowoso state elementary, Suharmuk said his family was excited about watching TV for as long as they wanted over the holiday.
Until now, he said, his family could only watch TV once a week because of low power supply. “We must first turn on a generator if we want to watch TV. Even with that, we can only watch TV once a week because turning on a generator requires 5 liters of gasoline. One liter of gasoline costs Rp 10,000 [75 US cents]. Hence, to watch TV, it costs Rp 50,000 and we can only afford to do so once a week,” Suharmuk told The Jakarta Post in Bondowoso on Tuesday.
Jirek Mas and Penang — located in Cermee district, Bondowoso regency — are two of the last villages to be electrified by state electricity firm PLN on mainland East Java.
Inhabited by around 2,500 people, the two cities had relied until now on a solar power plant in Bondowoso for electricity. Suharmuk said the electricity supply was only enough to power 10-watt energy saving bulbs.
With PLN having reached the two-most remote villages in Bondowoso, all villages on the province’s mainland are now electrified.
According to 2015 Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data, East Java has 7,724 villages, comprising 6,766 villages on the mainland and 958 others on Madura Island.
PLN business director for East Java and Bali, Amin Subekti, said it was a geographical challenge to electrify Jirek Mas and Penang, which are located at the top of a rocky hill, around 70 kilometers southeast of Bondowoso.
Bondowoso is one of three regencies categorized as underdeveloped in East Java. The two other regencies are Bangkalan and Sampang — both on Madura Island.
Amin said PLN had invested around Rp 14 billion (US$1.05 million) to build a 15.4-kilometer-long electricity network connected to the two villages.
“It takes around three-and-a-half to four hours to pass through the 17-km road to the villages. You can imagine here how difficult it is to reach them,” said Amin.
The state electricity firm installed 497 concrete pillars to build an electricity network to Jirek Mas and Penang, which has around 1,100 potential customers.
PLN East Java general manager Dwi Kusnanto said it was hoped the 25 villages that had yet to be electrified in the province would get electricity by 2019.
“All of those villages are on Madura’s outermost islands, which are quite difficult to access,” said Dwi.
In its road map, PLN aims to electrify the 25 villages on Madura Island by partnering with the private sector.
Jirek Mas village head Sukarman said he was grateful his village had been electrified. He hoped Jirek Mas and Penang villages could use the electricity supply to improve the local economy.
“All this time, Ambon bananas from these villages have been sold raw. With the electricity supply, people can now buy banana-processing machines so their bananas can be processed and sold at higher prices,” said Sukarman.
Every day, Jirek Mas residents deliver around 6 tons of Ambon bananas to Bali and Surakarta in Central Java, with a trade value of around Rp 50 million, he said.
