Indonesia takes action to avoid power outages
Updated
The Indonesian government has ordered factories to shift production to weekends at least once a month in a bid to avoid rolling nationwide power outages.
The decree - signed by five ministers - will go into effect for companies in Java and Bali from Monday next week.
Rising demand for electricity has led to increasing numbers of blackouts across the country in the past few years despite Indonesia's substantial resources of oil, natural gas, coal and geothermal energy.
The new rules are expected to last until December 2009, when supply from some of the new power plants currently under construction are due to go online.
