PLN asks government to stop intervention

State owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN)'s president Kuntoro Mangkusubroto has asked the government to stop interfering in the company's policy making process in a bid to improve the efficiency of the financially troubled company.

"My important statement today is that the government should stop intervention against PLN. Especially for Ekuin (the office of the Coordinating Minister for Economy and Finance), it should no longer interfere the company's operation," he told reporters in a joint press conference held by state owned Pertamina and State Logistics Agency (Bulog).

Kuntoro cited that a move made by a high ranking official at Ekuin to ask the Asian Development Bank to discontinue its financing for the Musi hydropower plant in South Sumatra as the most recent example of the government's intervention against the company.

He said that such kind of the government's intervention should be stopped because it would not only confuse the company's management but would cause inefficiency. "If there is problem we should put it on the table. As a governmental institution, it is certainly improper to carry out such practice," he said.

PLN, Pertamina and Bulog, known in the past as centers of corruption, collusion and nepotism practices, unveiled their corrective programs to eradicate their past mistakes during the press conference.

"If Bappenas (National Development Planning Agency), the Minister of Finance and PLN have committed to continuing the Musi power project, why should Ekuin interfere it," the angry Kuntoro said, adding that if the power project was halted due to the request made by Ekuin, all PLN's programs would be effected. This would certainly cause inefficiency. (*)