28/01/2005 - The PowerSwitch!
campaign is gaining ground all over the world
and has now also reached Indonesia. WWF Indonesia
launched its PowerSwitch! campaign on Tuesday,
January 25th.
Participants of a public forum in Jakarta
discussed the last six years of power sector
restructuring in Indonesia and identified
a lack of transparency, accountability and
public participation. These are the key elements
of Good Governance implementation as demanded
by WWF Indonesia.
A new WWF study presented at the campaign
launch came to the same result. The Directorate
General of Electricity and Energy Utilization
gave a statement in favour of public participation
and asked the Indonesian public to play an
active role in monitoring the performance
of PT. PLN (Persero), a state-owned monopoly.
Company representatives, consumer organisations,
partner NGOs and a number of journalists attended
the discussion forum. A member of the Indonesian
parliament promised that the House of Representatives
will offer more opportunities for public participation.
Through the Indonesian press a broader public
got informed about the event and the PowerSwitch!
campaign the day after.
With the launch WWF Indonesia has also established
Energy Troopers, a group of well-educated
and concerned Indonesian electricity consumers.
This mailing list based community held a first
meeting in early January and made a commitment
to spread the PowerSwitch! message.
The list of Energy Troopers is full of interesting
characters: One member works for one of the
private universities in Jakarta and wants
to implement energy efficiency activities
on campus. Another member is an expert for
renewable energy.
Some other members are working for major
Indonesian media. Together the Energy Troopers
will act as the core group of an urban community
that supports PowerSwitch! in Indonesia.
