No More Buy Solar For Gensets Just To Get Electricity In Sintang Village

The installation of electricity poles entering the village (ANTARA/Hendra)

JAKARTA - Eight villages in Sintang Regency, West Kalimantan are happy to welcome lighting from state electricity marked by symbolic electricity lighting in the courtyard of the Merti Jaya Village Office, Temunak District.

"So far, for the purposes of lighting at home, it must pay off to buy diesel to turn on the generator machine, it only turns on for a few hours. With PLN electricity, monthly expenses will be much reduced, daily activities will be easier and smoother," said one of the residents of Merti Jaya Village, Andreas (32) when contacted in Sintang, Saturday, November 26, quoted from Antara.

He thanked the government and PLN for flowing electricity to the village for enjoying PLN electricity at home, a resident's dream since decades ago.

"Now we can do daily activities easily and smoothly, so the children feel comfortable studying at home," he said.

Meanwhile, General Manager of PLN UID West Kalimantan, Mochamad Soffin Hadi, said that the eight villages enjoyed PLN electricity, namely Benua Kencana Village, Ruam Batu, Kupan Jaya, Gunung Mali, Jaya Mentari, Buluh River, Merti Jaya and United Pekulai.

"To electrify the eight villages, we have disbursed investment funds of Rp. 19.11 billion," he explained.

He detailed that the construction work for the expansion of the electricity network in the eight villages includes the construction and expansion of the 33.70 kms Medium Voltage Network (JTM), 35.40 kms of Low Voltage Network (JTR), and 11 distribution substation units with a total capacity of 1,610 kVA.

"With electricity entering the village, there will be 1,717 houses that are bright because of electricity from PLN," said Soffin.

Until October 2022, the number of villages that have not been electrified by PLN is 456 villages.

"In 2022, there will be an additional 56 locations consisting of 37 villages and 19 hamlets that will soon enjoy PLN electricity. This means that the remaining 421 villages have not had PLN electricity," explained Soffin.

He further appealed to the public to use electricity wisely and safely, especially for positive and productive things. He also asked the public to participate and care about electricity safety, especially in their respective neighborhoods.

"This electricity investment is expensive, for that we need to protect it together. We hope that the electricity that enters the village should be able to encourage the quality of life of citizens and be able to improve the community's economy," added Soffin.

Separately, the Governor of West Kalimantan, Sutarmidji, appreciated PLN's efforts to improve the quality of its services to the community. He admitted that electricity is currently one of the needs of people's lives. The existence of electricity is also one of the main indicators in increasing the score of the independent village index.

Governor Sutarmidji said that currently there are still several village locations in West Kalimantan that have not been electrified. For this reason, his party is ready to work together and collaborate with PLN so that more villagers can immediately enjoy electricity.

" Meeting the electricity needs of the community is our common responsibility. For this reason, I appeal to all local institutions, governments, and government and private agencies to work together and collaborate in building electricity infrastructure in West Kalimantan, so that the Earth of this Equatoriality can be clearer," he said.