Blackout affects activities in Greater Jakarta<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of thousands, or perhaps millions, of
\npeople in several parts of Jakarta and Tangerang had their
\nroutines interrupted for hours on Monday after a blackout
\noccurred at 10:55 a.m.<\/p>\n
The total loss suffered by customers of state electricity firm
\nPT PLN during the four-hour electricity failure could reach
\nbillions of rupiah. Main streets in the capital witnessed heavy
\ntraffic congestion when traffic lights stopped working.<\/p>\n
Along the streets in West Jakarta and Tangerang owners of air-
\nconditioned places of business, such as shops and barbershops as
\nwell as other businesses that rely heavily on PLN-supplied
\nelectricity such as gas stations, decided to temporarily close.<\/p>\n
Internet Service Providers were also unable to service
\ncustomers.<\/p>\n
The power supply resumed in stages beginning at 2:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
According to PLN spokesman Tito S., the failure was caused by
\nan electrical short circuit in 150 kilo-volt cables when
\nresidents of Kampung Utan in Ciputat, South Jakarta, chopped down
\ncoconut trees.<\/p>\n
\"Some of the coconut fronds were lifted by the wind and caused
\nthe short circuit,\" he told The Jakarta Post by phone in the
\nevening.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the afternoon, head of PLN for Greater Jakarta and
\nTangerang distribution Margo Santoso said at a news conference
\nthat the problem occurred along power lines connecting Gandul and
\nPetukangan in South Jakarta due to unknown reasons.<\/p>\n
The electricity failure then automatically shifted the 150
\nkilo-volt power to the Muara Karang steam-generated power plant
\nin West Jakarta to compensate the loss.<\/p>\n
\"This, however, caused the power plant to overload and caused
\nthe breakdown,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Margo said the power plant had a capacity of 600 megawatts and
\nreceived a load of 1,200 megawatts a moment before it shut down
\nautomatically.<\/p>\n
Tito said the company managed to gradually resume the power
\nsupply by taking power from several other power plants, such as
\nthe Suralaya power plant.<\/p>\n
\"It's possible to do so as all power plants in Java and Bali
\nare interconnected. This way we could reduce the burden at the
\nMuara Karang plant,\" he said.<\/p>\n
According to the company's media release, the electricity
\nfailure affected 15 main electricity relay stations in the
\ncapital, leaving customers in the city, particularly those
\nresiding in the southern and western parts of Greater Jakarta,
\nwithout electricity.<\/p>\n
The affected areas included those located around the National
\nMonument (Monas) Square, Jl. Merdeka Barat, Jl. Sudirman, Jl.
\nThamrin, Jl. Budi Kemuliaan, Jl. Tanah Abang, Jl. Gajah Mada and
\nJl. Hayam Wuruk in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
In South Jakarta, the power failure affected Mampang, Pondok
\nIndah, Senayan, the House of Representatives (DPR), Ulujami,
\nPetukangan and Kebayoran Lama areas.<\/p>\n
While areas in West Jakarta included Kebon Jeruk, Angke, Jl.
\nDaan Mogot and nearby Cengkareng, Jatake and Tangerang, Serpong
\nand Bumi Serpong Damai housing complex.<\/p>\n
The electricity failure hindered most activities in the city.<\/p>\n
Tatik, a teller at a Bank Mandiri in the Sarinah shopping
\ncenter, said the unfavorable situation forced employees to
\nmanually process all transactions.<\/p>\n
\"We can't process transactions to other branches because our
\ncomputers aren't operating due to the electricity failure,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
A staffer at Harapan Kita Cardiac Hospital said no fatalities
\noccurred at the hospital.<\/p>\n
\"Indeed, it is dangerous for patients who depend on life-
\nsupport equipment if the electricity suddenly goes off.<\/p>\n
\"But all cardiac patients are safe here since we have a
\ngenerator that turns on automatically if the power from PLN
\nfails,\" said Dr. Rini Waas, a staffer at the hospital located on
\nJl. S. Parman in West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Jum'ad, a staffer at Citra gas station on Jl. Petak Barat in
\nKalideres, West Jakarta, recalled that the station had to close
\nfor about one hour when the power failed until the station's
\ndamaged generator could be fixed.<\/p>\n
\"We asked them to leave the station while we repaired the
\ngenerator to avoid a back up of cars,\" he said.<\/p>\n
According to PLN, a similar failure happened on July 15 last
\nyear in Gandul. A kite was the cause of that failure.
\n(asa\/bkm\/nvn)<\/p>",
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