Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arcandra Tahar has said that state-owned electricity company PLN has managed to fully repair the substations that were heavily damaged by the recent earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, and the surrounding area.

“The quick response by PLN to restore the electricity supply was thanks to the participation of 1,033 volunteers,” Said Arcandra during an inspection of the Silae Electricity Substation, which has a capacity of 90 mega volt ampere (MVA), in Palu, as quoted in a press statement issued on Friday.

Meanwhile, PLN business director Syamsul Huda explained that the speedy restoration of the electricity infrastructure was the result of the hard work of the PLN joint team in Palu, Donggala and Sigi.

He said in principle, PLN had managed to repair the entire electricity system in the area and was ready to supply electricity to customers.

“Currently, we are focusing on gradually repairing the network distribution substation to reconnect the electricity supply to customers,” Syamsu said

He said PLN had so far managed to repair 1,707 distribution substations, provide 66 generator sets and supply electricity to prioritized customers like hospitals, clean water facilities, 11 gas stations, 10 banks and ATMs, 18 base transceiver station (BTS) towers, 17 houses of worship, 15 economic centers and 15 office buildings.

Tahar expressed hope that all government institutions would collaborate to address the remaining problems faced by the survivors of the disaster that killed more than 2,000 people and seriously damaged infrastructure and houses in the area. (bbn)