JAKARTA – His name is Kilion Manggara, a retired elementary school teacher who thanks to his hard work with the residents in his village managed to bring electricity through Solar Power Plant (PLTS) built by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM).
“After returning from a neighboring village, one night a few years ago, Kilion Manggara was stunned by the electricity received in the village of Arefu that he just visited. His own village of Amdui, Raja Ampat regency, West Papua, was still in the dark and not yet electrified. There is no electricity in the village” explained President Joko Widodo in his Facebook account on Sunday 14 January 2018.
Upon arrival at his home, Kilion Manggara then wrote a letter addressed to the local Energy Office of Raja Ampat. “I am concerned that our village still has not received electricity,” he said as written by President Joko Widodo.
The team from the Minisitry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) had the opportunity to hear directly the story of Kilion Manggara, during the inauguration of the Solar Power Plant (PLTS) in the village on 21 August 2017. “I made a letter with my own handwriting. I went to the Village Chief at seven o’clock at night to persuade him to co-sign it, we sent the letter and waited for the reply”, his story was told to the ESDM team led by Dadan Kusdiana who was then Head of Public Relations Communication Services Bureau, representing the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources.
From here, the initial aspirations of Kilion Manggara and the village chief was heard by the Central Government in Jakarta. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources then stepped in to help realize the wishes of Kilion Manggara and Amdui residents through the development of Centralized Solar Power Plant (PLTS). “So happy, Amdui villagers work to build this PLTS and they even make a fence around the PLTS to maintain it,” wrote President Joko Widodo.
Now, Amdui Village has been electrified from the Centralized PLTS with 30 kWp capacity for about 130 families in 103 homes. So, each house averages about 600 watts per day. Centralized PLTS in Amdui Village is a program of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources through the Directorate General of Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (DG EBTKE). The development of the PLTS was worked by PT Telekomunikasi Industri and Informasi (PT INTI Persero) for two and a half months. The Amdui village PLTS have operated since July 27, 2017. Amdui residents also have been trained periodically by PT INTI team to perform maintenance duty of the PLTS.
Thanks to Kilion Manggara, light is now present in one of the most beautiful areas in Eastern Indonesia.
West Papua Now 