Gus Dur pledges to speed up construction of power transmission

President Abdurrahman Wahid has pledged to speed up the construction of power transmission networks in Java in anticipation of a higher rate of economic growth in the country within the next two or three years, Bisnis Indonesia reported.

Speaking in his speech during his visit in Surabaya on Saturday, the President, more popularly called Gus Dur, said that the construction of the electricity transmission facilities, particularly in Java, should be carried out as soon as possible to accommodate a higher power demand resulting from the economic recovery.

Gus Dur also said that the government had also decided to construct more power plants to anticipate the possible power shortage within the next three years. "If the country's electricity generating capacity is not expanded, the existing power supply will not be enough to meet the demand," he said.

"It is therefore important for the government to build new power plants to prevent Indonesia from suffering acute power crisis," he was quoted as saying.

In addition to build new power plants, the government had also decided to continue with the construction of the delayed power projects such as Paiton power plant in East Java, Gus Dur said. (*)