PLN urged to act on complaint<\/p>\n
TANGERANG (JP): Members of the National Commission on Human
\nRights have asked the state-owned electricity company (PLN) to
\ntemporarily turn off the 500,000-volt electric current flowing
\nthrough cables suspended over the Ciledug Indah housing estate in
\nthe Tangerang area, Greater Jakarta.<\/p>\n
While inspecting the Ciledug Indah housing estate on Thursday,
\nmember of the commission Djoko Sugianto said, \"We hope that PLN
\nwill agree to turn off the high voltage current while we try to
\nsolve the problem.\"<\/p>\n
Djoko's statement follows complaints made to the commission on
\nWednesday by residents of the Ciledug Indah housing estate
\nconcerning the bad effects of high voltage electrical cables
\nsuspended over their housing complex.<\/p>\n
Spokesman for the residents Charles Christofel told commission
\nmembers Brig. Gen. (Ret) Roekmini K. Astoeti and Djoko Soegianto
\nthat residents of Ciledug Indah have suffered physically since
\nNov. 25 when PLN activated the high voltage cables.<\/p>\n
Charles said residents have been getting headaches, feeling
\nnauseous, have irregular heart beats and get itchy skin
\nirritations. If a fluorescent lamp is pointed to the sky, it will
\nturn on, without being connected to an electrical plug, he said.<\/p>\n
During the site inspection Roekmini and Djoko witnessed a test
\npen turning on when one of the residents touched it to a
\ntelevision antenna.<\/p>\n
Another resident, H. Muas told The Jakarta Post that radiation
\nfrom the cables also obstructed television and radio signals.<\/p>\n
During the inspection, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., Roekmini praised
\nthe residents for trying to solve their problem in a constructive
\nway by reporting it to the relevant bodies.<\/p>\n
\"If we see this matter from the legal point of view, the
\nresidents are not illegal inhabitants because they have legal
\ndocumentation such as the certificates of land ownership (HGB)
\nand house construction permits (IMB) as evidence, Roekmini said.<\/p>\n
She also queried the Tangerang administration's city planning
\npolicy which made the land in Ciledug Indah unsuitable for a
\nhousing complex.<\/p>\n
\"Why did the administration give permission to the developer
\nwhen they already knew the land was allocated for the building of
\ntransmission towers of high voltage cables?,\" she queried.<\/p>\n
In April 1985, West Java Deputy Governor Aboeng Koesman issued
\nthe permit for PT Duta Megah Perdana to build a housing estate on
\nthe 20-hectare plot of land in Tangerang. The permit was based on
\nthe March 27, 1985 recommendation of Tangerang Regent Tadjus
\nSobirin.<\/p>\n
The 250 residents have lived in Ciledug Indah since 1987. They
\nbought the houses from real estate developer PT Duta Megah
\nPerdana. In 1990 PLN started the high voltage cable towers
\nproject.<\/p>\n
The present Tangerang regent H. Saifullah Abdulrachman told
\nKompas daily on Wednesday that the residents of Ciledug should
\nmove to other places. \"Then other problems arise. Who is going to
\npay the costs?,\" the regent said.<\/p>\n
Charles said that so far PLN has not given any sign that it
\nwill give the residents compensation because, PLN said, the
\nproject is for public use.<\/p>\n
Charles said the residents have agreed to go to the U.S.
\nembassy if the human rights commission fails to help them.<\/p>\n
Without going into details, Charles said, \"If the National
\nCommission on Human Rights fails to help us then we will go to
\nthe U.S. embassy to complain about the violation of our rights.\"
\n(13\/mas)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pln-urged-to-act-on-complaint-1447893297",
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