REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, TIMIKA -- The national power utility company PLN said it would supply electricity for all capital cities of districts in Papua and West Papua in 2017.

General Manager of PLN for Papua and West Papua Yohanes Sukrislismono said capital cities of 14 districts in the two provinces are still without electricity.

This year PLN would build electricity networks in four district capital cities in the country's most backward provinces.

"In line with the commitment of the PLN management, we have a program of 'Bright Papua' in the next five years. We will increase the electrification ratio in Papua," Yohanes said here on Monday.

Apart from the assignment to supply power to the district capital cities, PLN also will increase the number of villages to be supplied with electricity, he said.

Currently electrification has covered only 25 percent of villages in the two provinces, he said.

Through the program of 'Bright Papua' the electrification ratio would be increased to 80 percent in five years, he said.

Last week PLN officially promoted the status of the Timika unit of PLN to a branch expanding its coverage to three districts - Mimika, Nduga and Asmat.

"The purpose of promoting the status is to increase its public services. In six months at the latest, the Timika branch of PLN would have own units including Timika Jaya and Timika City to be followed with the forming of other units," Yohanes.

He said with the new position , the Timika branch of PLN is expected to improve the quality of its services to the customers by preventing too frequent blackouts.

Electrification ratio is the lowest in the two large but scarcely populated provinces because of the difficulty in building electricity infrastructure to cover small villages spread in wide areas.

Many mountain villages in the two provinces could not even be reached by cars.

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