JAKARTA - The impact of damage to electrical infrastructure due to flooding and landslides that hit Aceh is considered much more massive than the tsunami disaster that occurred in 2004.
President Director of PT PLN (Persero) Darmawan Prasodjo said that this time the damage to the electricity system reached 442 points, a sharp jump compared to the eight points of damage during the tsunami two decades ago.
Darmawan said that the difference in the scale of the damage made the process of restoring electricity in Aceh today much more challenging and takes longer.
"For this disaster compared to the 2004 tsunami, it is very different. At the time of the 2004 tsunami, the damage to the electrical system was in eight points, while this disaster had 442 points. So the scale is very different, this time it is very massive," said Darmawan in a coordination meeting with the Post-disaster Recovery Task Force broadcast via YouTube DPR RI, Tuesday, December 30.
According to Darmawan, the extent of the damage distribution makes the recovery process very dependent on access to evacuation of electrical materials. Areas whose access routes are still open can be restored faster, while areas that are still isolated have obstacles.
"So the areas that are still isolated, the recovery is a little slower and a little hampered," he explained.
PLN noted that out of a total of 23 districts and cities in Aceh Province, 15 areas had recovered 100 percent in terms of villages that had regained electricity. However, the other eight districts are still in the recovery phase.
Darmawan revealed that there were three areas with the lowest recovery rate, namely Central Aceh, Bener Meriah, and Gayo Lues.
In Central Aceh, only 70.8 percent of villages have been reconnected to electricity. Meanwhile, in Bener Meriah, the recovery rate reached 83.6 percent of villages, and in Gayo Lues, only about 69.9 percent of villages were reconnected to electricity.
To accelerate recovery, continued Darmawan, PLN continues to evacuate and distribute electricity materials with various modes of transportation.
Especially in Central Aceh and Bener Meriah, the delivery of materials is still carried out through air routes.
Meanwhile, in Gayo Lues, the land route has started to open despite still facing landslides.
"Gayo Luwes has some good news, the land route has started to open, so our 210 electricity poles are on the way. As for Central Aceh with Bener Meriah, the evacuation of our 510 electricity poles is still using aircraft," said Darmawan.
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