TEMPO.CO, Surabaya - The Indonesian government has confirmed that the gas distribution network project for households in Surabaya will be completed soon. State-owned gas company PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) is currently working on gas network to serve 24,000 households in the city, known as the ‘city of heroes.’
“No later than December 2016, all households in Surabaya will be able to use natural gas for cooking,” said the Director-General of Oil and Natural Gas of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources I Gusti Nyoman Wiratmaja Putra when inspecting a gas network project site in Malang Village, Surabaya, Wednesday, June 22, 2016.
Wiratmaja added that other cities have also shown their interest to receive gas distribution for households. “It’s in line with the national program that within 5 year’s time [Indonesia] can connect 1.5 million households to natural gas network,” Wiratmaja said.
PGN Director Dilo Seno Widagdo said the government-subsidized gas network project in Surabaya has been 18.8 percent complete. He hoped that the connection can be exploited by residents to reduce their spending. “Therefore, Surabaya households can cook with natural gas which is more efficient, cheaper and affordable,” he said.
Moreover, PGN will also complete gas distribution network for 180,000 households across Indonesia. Though, the actual target for this year was 189,000 households, according to Wiratmaja. “As for next year, we have set a target of 200,000 household gas connection to be established in Indonesia.”
Dilo said that the regions to receive natural gas distribution from the network are Tarakan, Balikpapan, Batam, Cilegon and Prabumulih. “For Prabumulih alone, some 4,000-ish households can already use gas network this year."
ARTIKA RACHMI FARMITA
