Kupang, E Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA) - State-owned electricity company PLN will shortly commence work on installing some electricity networks for 51 villages on Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara Province (NTT).

"The contractors in charge of installing the electricity networks in 51 villages in Flores have currently made the necessary preparations to start work at the earliest," PLN Manager of the Flores Electricity Project Implementation Unit Simi Lapabesi remarked here on Monday.

Lapabesi elaborated that those electricity networks will be installed in villages across Flores Island, specifically in 27 villages in East Manggarai District, nine in Manggarai District, four in Ende District, two in West Manggarai District, five in Nagekeo District, and four in Sikka District.

"We are ready to begin the installation of the electricity networks, and it will be realized in 2019," he noted.

PLN General Manager of NTT Province Ignatius Rendroyoko earlier remarked that the electricity company had worked towards boosting the installation of electricity networks in villages to expedite the provision of electricity that had earlier reportedly reached merely 71 percent until March 2019.

"We have set a target to boost the electrification ratio in NTT to up to 90 percent by the end of 2019 and steadily increase it to 100 percent to ensure that every village in NTT receives electricity," he explained.

Rendroyoko added that PLN had, until now, installed electricity networks in 478 of the total 1,200 villages in the province that had yet to receive electricity.

He also admitted to PLN encountering on-field hurdles to install electricity networks for NTT's villages. To this end, he is optimistic that the local government and community would synergize efforts to install the electricity network in villages in NTT.

"For instance, we need the local people's go-ahead to slash some trees on the path of the electrical installation and to utilize space to plug electricity poles. We will work swiftly, so that the people will soon have access to electricity," he added.

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Translator: Aloysius Lewokeda/Yuni Arisand
Editor: Azizah Fitriyanti
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