Currently, the gas networks have only been connected to 835 thousand houses...
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita has assured that Indonesia will only use domestically manufactured pipes in its household gas networks.

"My duty is to ensure that all the pipes used for (household) gas networks are made at home," he said after attending an internal meeting with President Joko Widodo at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Thursday.

Indonesia has a plethora of pipe manufacturers that are capable of supplying quality pipes for the country's household gas networks, Minister Kartasasmita pointed out.

"There are plenty of pipe companies in Indonesia," he said.

He further said that it is necessary to lay down standards for pipes produced by domestic companies. However, he expressed confidence that national pipe manufacturers have the capability of producing quality pipes.

Earlier, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto informed that the government is aiming to connect 2.5 million houses to gas networks by next year.

"Currently, the gas networks have only been connected to 835 thousand houses, 241 thousand of which were funded by PGN (state-owned gas company), while the government funded the rest," he informed.

The minister said that this figure is still far below expectations, especially compared to the initial target of four million houses.

The government is currently making significant efforts to provide at least 2.5 million houses access to the networks by 2024, he added.

"The initial target was to reach 4 million houses by 2024, but it turned out to be difficult to achieve. Hence, we hope that we will succeed in shooting the number from 835 thousand to 2.5 million in collaboration with private actors," he said.

According to Hartarto, the government is considering revising a presidential regulation to allow the private sector to take part in the development of the gas networks.

Through the revised regulation, the government will make the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources in charge of public-private partnership schemes, he informed.

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Translator: Rangga P, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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