PT PLN Indonesia Power Wonogiri Hydroelectric Power Plant Sub Unit launched the "Gajah Mungkur" social innovation program as a collaborative movement, which integrates waste management, ecosystem conservation, and community empowerment around the Gajah Mungkur Reservoir, Wonogiri, Central Java.
"This program is the answer to the multidimensional challenges that have been looming over this strategic area," said PLN Indonesia Power President Director Bernadus Sudarmanta, in a statement.
Gajah Mungkur Reservoir, a major source of energy and irrigation in the southern region of Central Java, is facing serious pressure.
Sedimentation, which reaches 3.2 million cubic meters per year, household waste runoff of up to 70 tons, and the prevalence of stunting, which affects 11 percent of toddlers in the surrounding area, are the background to the birth of the program.
According to Bernadus, this program is designed as a circular economy-based socio-environmental strategy, with a four-pillar approach: waste management through maggot cultivation and waste bank digitization; strengthening child nutrition through supplementary feeding programs (PMT) and TPA integration of fishing groups with local fish processing MSMEs; and reservoir conservation through tree planting and fish seed restocking.
"We don't just generate electricity, we generate life. Gajah Mungkur is a concrete manifestation of PLN Indonesia Power's sustainability strategy, which prioritizes social innovation as part of the energy transformation," he said.
Bernadus continued, saying that the Lestari Women's Farmers Group (KWT) in Pokoh Kidul Village had produced thousands of grams of maggot eggs while harvesting organic vegetables of economic value.
