Govt to use state budget to cope with power shortage

The government will use state funds to finance a crash program to help cope with the acute shortage of power supply in several provinces in the country. In addition, the government also plans to speed up the construction of suspended power projects to solve the power shortage problem, Media Indonesia reported on Thursday.

"The crisis in the electricity supply has taken place and we are attempting to solve the problem, albeit in stages," Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The minister said the electricity demand surged by above 10 percent during the past two years, while the power supply remained unchanged since most of power projects planned in mid 1990s had to be suspended following the financial crisis in late 1997.

As the consequence, several provinces such as Lampung, South Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau, North Sumatra, Aceh, South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, West Kalimantan and Papua have suffered an acute shortage of the power supply. If no measures are taken, in 2005 the power crisis will also hit provinces in Bali and Java.

"Raising the electricity supply is the government?s first priority. To solve the problem, the government will introduce a long-term crash program," the minister added. (*)