West Sumatra urges geothermal developers to use local labour throughout development
Taman Hutan Raya Bung Hatta, Solok, West Sumatra, Indonesia (source: flickr/ Daniel Wilder, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
6 Dec 2018
The provincial government of West Sumatra is urging investors to utilise local labour for geothermal development to support local economic development and community benefits.
The West Sumatra Provincial Government is asking investors who conduct geothermal exploration to use local labor to help decrease unemployment in the area, as reported by Antara News today.
“We have asked and investors are willing to use local labor,” said Chief of West Sumatra’s Integrated One-Stop Service and Investment Service (DPMPTSP), Maswar Dedi.
The labor force used locally is not based on expert workers, but a non-skilled workforce that is tailored to the needs and human resources in the exploration area.
This is believed to have a positive effect on the community around geothermal exploration work. That was proven during the initial drilling process at PT Supreme Energy in South Solok. Tens of hundreds of people around were included in the drilling process.
Maswar added, besides the benefits in the field of labor, the surrounding area would also see a positive impact in various fields such as infrastructure, social, health to education. These benefits can be obtained through the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program.
With geothermal energy utilisation helping countries on economic development, West Sumatra could also see similar benefits with its identified 17 geothermal areas that can be developed, Maswar Dedi said.
Until now, only three have seen development, namely Solok Selatan, which will operate in 2019, then in Solok Regency and Pasaman.
He asked the public not to be affected by negative rumours on investors interested to come.
“The government supports the entry of investment into the region because the positive impact will be directly felt by the community. Moreover, geothermal is a new and renewable energy that is not dangerous,” he said.
Previously the Deputy Governor of West Sumatra, Nasrul Abit asked all parties to open themselves to the entry of investment into the region, which is expected to drive the economy of the community.
“The investment is not only for the government but also will have an impact on people’s welfare,” he said.
Previously there was a rejection of geothermal exploration in Solok Regency. However, the rejection was considered by the government not purely from the people in the exploration area, but because there were certain provocations from the parties.
Source: Antara News
