Gov't to Settle Unfinished Projects, Jokowi Says  

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Presidential Communication Team member Teten Masduki said that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo would ensure that there would be no more unfinished projects due to permit or land acquisition issues.

Teten said that Jokowi issued the instruction when he was inaugurating the Batang steam-fueled power plant (PLTU) and the government electrification program in rural areas in Batang, Central Java.

"The public private partnership [PPP] in the Batang PLTU project must be an example of government-private partnership," Teten said in a press release on Friday, August 28, 2015.

Teten added that the government will work hard to remove barriers that would hamper the power plant construction.

"Otherwise, Indonesia would suffer electricity crisis in 2019," he said.

The government, Teten added, had set a target of electrification ration by the end of 2019 to be at 97 percent. In a five year period (2015-2019), a number of power plants would be built to reach a capacity of 35,000 megawatt.

"Therefore, the President will provide a special attention to infrastructure and power plant development. The power plant development cannot be postponed anymore," he said.

The Batang power plant is a project to be developed under public-private partnership scheme with a value of more than US$4 billion. The president said that the scheme, based on transparent, competitive and accountable processes, must be an example of infrastructure development projects in Indonesia.

REZA ADITYA