President urges people to conserve electricity

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called on the public, government and business institutions particularly the energy-intensive companies to save the use of electricity despite the government's decision not to increase the electricity tariffs.

"I urge all the government officials both in Jakarta and provinces to continue to save the use of electricity. Industries both in manufacturing and in service sectors should also use the electricity more affectively in running their businesses," the President said when he announced the government's decision to delay the planned increase in the electricity tariff on Monday.

The President said that the initiatives to save the electricity should be carried in all activities not only in the industrial sector but also in households because the current demand had far exceeded the supply capacity.

He said that the government had decided not increase the electricity tariff to ensure that the public as whole and industrial activities in the other side would not be burdened with more rising costs.

According to him, the government would continue to provide more low-cost energy supply in the coming years by building more coal-fired power plants. "It is important that in the future the government will not only strive to providing more power supply to meet the surge in the demand from the industrial sector but also to provide electricity supply with fair tariffs," he said.

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani said that the government should increase the subsidy to state owned electricity company PLN by at least Rp 11 trillion on the top of the Rp 17 trillion already allocated in the state budget as the consequence of the decision not to increase the electricity tariffs. (*)