Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is important to the company’s business. Community Development PLN Indonesia Power Taufan Kurniawan said CSR aims to establish good relations between companies and the community, establish relationships between companies and external stakeholders, build a good corporate image, and facilitate sustainable company development.
In addition, CSR also allows companies to create jobs for other parties. CSR is also a promotional medium for the company itself. Taufan explained this in a Corporate Social Responsibility guest lecture at SBM ITB on Monday, 11/15/2022.
According to Taufan, PLN is determined to harmonize the development of three electricity supply aspects: economic, social and environmental. For this reason, PLN has developed a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Program as a tangible manifestation of SCR.
Taufan Kurniawan gave an example of PLN’s CSR at the Saguling Reservoir Hydroelectric Power Plant. The environmental conditions in the PLTA Saguling reservoir are that the border is converted and waste is dumped in the reservoir. Also, many aquatic weeds or water hyacinths and chemical wastes cause environmental problems, such as erosion, sedimentation that blocks intake, and poor water quality.
To maintain the Saguling Reservoir, Taufan highlighted that PLN has done several activities, including bathymetry, namely monitoring the sedimentation rate and service life of the reservoir and knowing the volume of reservoir capacity; hydrological and climatological monitoring; water quality monitoring; cleaning of garbage and weed water; green belt greening; dam inspections, and adding the volume of water to reservoirs.
In addition, said Taufan, PLN dedicates an environmental program called “Citarum Harum,” to control watershed pollution and damage for function preservation, including prevention, mitigation, and recovery. Some of the activities in the Citarum Harum program are tree planting with the Regent of West Bandung, discussing the synergy of the Citarum Harum program, and cleaning the reservoir with the community, police, and TNI, as well as several official visits to the Saguling hydropower plant.
PLN also offers partnership assistance to business actors to empower local products that align with environmental conservation. Several PLN partners collaborating with PLN are Kopi Pangalengan, partners for water hyacinth (water hyacinth processing for animal feed products), and Bamboo Corner as an alternative to the sedimentation problem of the Saguling reservoir due to erosion.
