Blackouts threaten Medan
Thursday, February 16 2006 - 02:21 AM WIB
The marketing manager of PT Medan Industrial Area (KIM), Jefri Sirait, said Medan companies were hit hardest by the blackouts, which had resulted in production declines.
Every effort is being made to avoid production grinding to a halt, but operating hours have been reduced and shifts cut back at many factories.
?Almost all of the 300 companies in KIM have slashed production. It was the only option open to many of them, to cover fuel costs for the generators used during power outages,? Jefri told The Jakarta Post.
In January, state power firm PLN began cutting power to limited areas of the country, leaving companies and residential areas in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and North Sumatra off-line for two hours a day.
The power outages, which PLN said would continue for 52 days until March, occur during peak usage hours from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. to allow the company to do maintenance work.
Jefri said no companies had completely halted production because of the power situation but several had dismissed workers who they could not justify keeping on.
?We can?t be sure of the exact figures, but the number of layoffs must be high. Several industrial firms in KIM, have reduced their labor costs since the government announced fuel price increases last year,? said Jefri. KIM employs 30,000 workers in total.
Located on the outskirts of Medan, the industrial complex was opened in 1988. Ten percent of KIM comprises foreign-invested companies, with investment coming from Germany, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan and Switzerland.
PLN reported it could only supply 985 megawatts of electricity, lower than the demand of 1,080 MW per day. During maintenance work on generators, that deficit can grow by another 100 MW.
North Sumatra Development Planning Agency head R.E. Nainggolan said the province could. eventually face a power deficit of 1,000 MW if no new big-capacity power plants are built.
He said one new plant had been built but it could not cover the power deficit. The Sipan Sipahoras water-generated power plant in Sibolga city, which was opened by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the end of 2005, only produces 50 MW per day.
Nainggolan said several other plants were being built, including the Asahan I water-generated power plant in Toba Samosir, the construction of which started Feb. 11.
The plant is being built by China Huadian Corporation at an estimated cost of Rp 2.4 trillion. It should be operating within four years, producing 180 MW of power per day. (*)