A Shell Company in the Seychelles

Over a dozen unfinished columns of reinforced concrete stood erect at the steam-powered power plant (PLTU) 2 project site in Tanjung Gundul, West Kalimantan last week. There was no sign of construction activity at the 45-hectare complex. Some of the steel from the unfinished support columns was rusty. Weeds were growing around its uninhabited buildings.

Residents of West Kalimantan are in great need of additional electricity supply. The area routinely experiences power outages. However, work on PLTU 2, which was supposed to be completed by 2012, had come to standstill. "There is a problem with paying the vendor," said Aji Sutrisno, general manager of the state-run electricity company Perusahaan Listrik Negara's (PLN) West Kalimantan main construction unit.