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Jakarta:“In the future, using electricity on Monday - Friday will be more costly than using it on Saturday – Sunday,” said PLN CEO Fahmi Mochtar.

Fahmi explained that PLN and businessmen are currently discussing the tariff plan. According to him, the tariff for industrial electricity is around Rp 1.300 and it is sold for around Rp 600 per kilowatt hour. “The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) has agreed to discuss the tariff in terms of a business,” he said. In the future, tariff will be uniform for all industries.

Last Monday, the government issued a decree on changing the industries’ operating days from Monday – Friday to Saturday – Sunday, once every month. If an industry does not follow the rule, the government will cut back their electricity supply temporarily. The joint-decree was signed by Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Industry Minister Fahmi Idris, Manpower Minister Erman Soeparno, and Home Affairs Minister Mardiyanto.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the government will adjust the operational days to holidays. “If the services do not follow the same schedule, there would be no point in the changes,” she said yesterday.

She explained the government was still studying the impact of the new regulation. For services on holidays, she said, her office will coordinate with other government offices.

KADIN executive, Bambang Soesatyo called on the government to provide services on holidays to match industrial activities. According to him, industrial transactions cannot be delayed despite the shifting of working hours.

“Government services like the Customs and Excise, ports, tax offices and banks, must operate as well, because the industrial process, distribution and transactions cannot wait,” he said yesterday.

According to Bambang, the new regulation is counterproductive to the new investment policy. The policy, which was ratified through Presidential Instruction Number 5/2008, he said, ‘is being voided by the instant sub-sector electricity policy.’

He is concerned this policy will upset economic development and recovery. “The government is acting without calculating the risks for the future,” he said.

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