Convoluted Bureaucracy Stunts Power Generation Projects
President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko "Jokowi" Widodo asked the Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ministry, local administrations, and PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) to cut the licensing bureaucracy for power plants. Currently, there are 259 types of permits to build power plants with different names. "There are permits, recommendations, statement letters; they are all the same, all permits. If you transport them in suitcases, it may require ten suitcases," President Jokowi explained while giving directions to the president directors of state-owned enterprises (BUMN), as quoted from the Youtube Secretariat Cabinet, Saturday.
Jokowi revealed that many business players complained about the lengthy construction process, which was up to seven years, due to inefficiency. Therefore, he ordered the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, local administrations, and PLN not to complicate the licensing process for power plants since it would discourage investors. "PLN shall not waste their time like that, who wants to invest if the process is that complicated?" he asked.