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onstruction on the 400-megawatt Tanjung Pasir steam-power plant in Langkat regency, North Sumatra, has resumed after being halted by the regency administration for 25 days due to the lack of required permits.

Construction on the Rp 4 trillion (US$425 million) project recommenced at 11:30 a.m. local time Wednesday after officers from the Langkat regency administration removed the seal.

Langkat Regent Ngogesa Sitepu said his office had issued a permit for the construction to resume after power station officials had shown good faith by applying for the required permits.

The administration had not intended to hamper construction work if procedures had been followed, he added.

"We will support the national project. Hopefully, it will help address the poor power supply in North Sumatra," he said.

The power plant, located on a 105-hectare plot of land, is a joint-venture between state electricity monopoly PT PLN and a Chinese investor. The project, carried out by PT Ninject, is aimed at addressing the power crisis in North Sumatra.

PLN Sumatra Region I general manager, Chairuddin Matobdang, expressed gratitude at the resumption of the construction project.

He promised to continue coordinating with the Langkat regency administration to facilitate the completion of the project.

Meanwhile, the East Kalimantan provincial administration has targeted to end its power crisis by 2013, Governor Awang Faroek Ishak declared, following a deal to construct a 400-megawatt steam-power plant in East Kutai.

The East Kutai plant is to supply power to East Kutai regency and major cities in the province such as Bontang, Samarinda, Balikpapan, Kutai Kartanegara and other regencies still experiencing blackouts.

The East Kutai plant will consist of two 200-MW units. One unit will be built by PT Kaltim Prima Coal and the other by a joint venture between the provincial administration and PLN in Kariangau, with both units expected to be completed in the same year.

The East Kalimantan administration claims it fully supported the use of alternative energy sources, such as solar energy in its short-term program, in which it will work together with Total E&P Indonesia by setting up solar panels for a pilot project in Muara Pantuan village, Anggana district in Kutai Kartanegara.

Muara Pantuan village chief H.A. Rasyid said 700 of the 1,000 houses in the village were not yet linked to power grids and still used kerosene lamps for lighting.

Total E&P Indonesia corporate community, government relation and CSR corporate manager, Judith Navarro Dipodiputro, said 90 houses would be equipped with solar panels.

The 100-watt solar panels could supply power to a home for up to eight hours continuously.

"Solar energy is environmentally friendly and cheap compared to a diesel-powered generator which costs Rp 500,000 a month to operate," she said.

In Mataram, protesters demanded that West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) legislative council summon the NTB PLN management to account for the chronic blackouts. They also criticized what they saw as PLN's discriminative policy, citing a number of newly built shop houses that had immediately been installed with electricity meters.

Around 50 people in Lombok, calling themselves NTB Anti-Blackout Alliance, rallied at the legislative building on Wednesday to protest the rotating blackouts in the past week.