Papua underwent an electricity connection problem due to the difficult access. Hence, many people used to live without electricity and only use natural light from the fire. Free electricity in Papua is what they need.
Moreover, they also need to share electricity from several houses with a schedule. Thus, they cannot always use electricity and only have limited access.
Seeing this concern, The State Electricity Company and House of Representatives created a program to give free electric connection to low incomes households in Papua. The program is New Electricity Connection Program (BPBL). Its purpose is to give electricity access to the whole community in Papua.
Therefore, from December 2022, a total of 1920 households received free electricity access. It is also the first to mark the progress of the program.
The Caused of the Electricity Crisis in Papua
The first factor that causes electricity problems is due to difficult access. Some districts need a few days to reach via land transportation. The landscape does not help as, well.
As more Papua electricity programs are running to develop the region, the government is trying to end this crisis by creating the New Electricity Connection Program (BPBL).
This program is also part of accompanying the regional expansion. Before this program, the central government settled three new regions and one special region as part of helping Papua’s growth.
Before the 2024 election, the new regions need support to meet the requirements of a municipal city. Hence, by giving electricity access, it indirectly helps better access society as well.
To install electricity in Papua, the government must also resolve the access problem, which has been the biggest challenge for years.
Road construction and traffic management have now also become the government’s priority. By improving access and electricity, districts and cities in Papua have a higher prospect of a better future development index.
However, as a starter, the committee will start targeting low-income households. They are the ones who got impacted the most by the lack of electricity access.
The Details of The Program
Improving access to isolated areas and difficult road access is the main concern. This difficult access makes electricity distribution struggle, as some areas only have limited road access.
The program to give free electricity has several stages:
- The first is electricity installation in the area.
- In addition, each household also has its own prepaid electric installation.
- The house then receives 50 thousand rupiahs for prepaid electricity tokens.
- They will also receive three free lamps, an electric socket, and free installation. The free electricity connection fund comes from donations from the Papua and West Papua Region Electric State Company Main Unit employees.
People receive this assistance with great excitement. They also express how they wish they could have lower electricity bills in the future with this assistance from the Electric State Company.
For now, the range of households getting free installation is still limited. In the future, more isolated areas and low-income households will receive more access to electricity.
Electricity Progress in Papua
The director of the Electricity State Company said that aside from Jayapura and Nabire, more districts will also receive electricity connections. There are 7 other PLN Customer Service Implementation Units (UP3) in the Papua and West Papua regions on the list.
Hopefully, people in Papua can appreciate this assistance and utilize the electricity for their betterment.
With this free electricity in the Papua program still running, more districts and areas will receive this help. In the future, Papuans can do their activities conveniently without relying only on natural light.
