Kite festival informs of risk to power lines<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Dozens of people from all over the world took
\npart in the Jakarta International Kite Festival '99 over the
\nweekend. State-owned electricity company PLN was the most
\ndomineering presence in using the event to educate the public
\nabout the hazards of the popular pastime.<\/p>\n
During the festival on July 17 and July 18, PLN said kites
\nwere among the worst power disrupters in the country.<\/p>\n
PLN officials, who acted as coordinators for the annual event,
\nrecorded 85 cases of blackouts in 1997, 64 cases in 1998 and 31
\ncases so far this year which were attributed to kites flown too
\nclose to power lines.<\/p>\n
The people responsible were unaware they could be electrocuted
\nby the high-voltage lines or that strings getting caught on the
\ncables could cause short circuits and blackouts in the whole
\narea.<\/p>\n
\"People are not aware that power cuts affect houses, offices,
\nbusinesses and hospitals that rely on PLN's electricity for their
\npower supply,\" said a PLN manager who did not want to be named.<\/p>\n
PLN employees regularly clear abandoned kites from lines to
\nensure the electricity system functions properly.<\/p>\n
He said: \"This job takes time, energy and expense. We
\nregularly clean high-voltage lines every three months or so from
\nthe mound of disused kites.\"<\/p>\n
PLN came to the right venue to spread the message -- thousands
\nof unique kites flew high during the seventh Jakarta
\nInternational Kite Festival at the National Monument square,
\nCentral Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Besides host Jakarta, 11 other provinces took part in the
\nevent: Southeast Sulawesi, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, West
\nKalimantan, South Kalimantan, Lampung, Central Java, East Java,
\nWest Java, Yogyakarta and Aceh.<\/p>\n
Representatives from the Netherlands, Singapore, Japan,
\nAustralia, Malaysia and France also participated.<\/p>\n
Chief organizer of the event Sari Madjid told The Jakarta Post
\nthat there were commendable kite designs featured at the
\nfestival.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesians are quite smart in creating stunt kites (those of
\ncontrolled speed) which even surpass Japan,\" Sari said.<\/p>\n
She said the kite was first created in Southeast Sulawesi,
\nnamed kamanu-manu, and made of wild tuber leaves called gadung.
\nHowever, China also stakes claim to being home to the world's
\nfirst kite.<\/p>\n
-- Irene Sugiharto<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kite-festival-informs-of-risk-to-power-lines-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }