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Electrifying Indonesia's last stretch is tough work
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has boasted that the country has achieved 98.05 percent electrification, higher than the 67.2 percent it recorded in 2010. The government aims to electrify 99.9 percent of Indonesia by the end of 2019. Despite closing in on the finish line, the last few kilometers to provide electricity in rural areas have been tough, regional PLN officials said.
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Children play around new electricity grids in Kwanko village, Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, on Monday. Kwanko village and over a thousand villages in Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, have enjoyed the fruits of extensive electrification in recent years, with the electrification rate in the province at 95 percent from 85 percent in 2017. (JP/Made Anthony Iswara)
I
n the corner of a house of West Nusa Tenggara's Kwanko village in Dompu Regency, 35-year-old Anti kneels down to place a dozen water-filled plastic bottles in her refrigerator, soon to be frozen and sold to passing fishermen.
For her and 103 families in the village, the fridge embodies running electricity that came to the village 18 months ago, helping fishermen conserve their fish better as their wives earn an income by selling ice.
The former village head, Syaiful Baharudin, said limited road access to the area had forced residents to carry electric poles and cables with their fishing boats, all in the hope of replacing their worn-out, diesel-run generators that had only covered parts of the residents' daily needs.
"It took us five years to get good electricity," Syaiful said. "Alhamdulillah [thank God], it's all worth it."
Kwanko village and over a thousand villages in Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, have enjoyed the fruits of extensive electrification in recent years. According to Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry data, the province has now an electrification ratio of about 95 percent as of this year's first quarter, higher than the 93 percent in 2018 and 85 percent in 2017.
Nationally, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has boasted that the country has achieved 98.05 percent electrification, higher than 67.2 percent it recorded in 2010. The government had aimed to electrify 99.9 percent of Indonesia by the end of 2019.
Despite closing in on the finish line, the last few kilometers to achieving electricity provision in rural areas have been tough, regional PLN officials said.
