Second blackout hits Jakarta, normal activities disrupted<\/p>\n
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A power outage occurred in Greater Jakarta yet again on Friday
\nmorning, disrupting most people's daily activities and increasing
\nthe likelihood of state electricity company PT PLN being hit with
\na class action suit.<\/p>\n
The impact of the blackout was milder than that on Thursday
\nnight because it happened when people were on their way to the
\noffice or school.<\/p>\n
\"I was already at my office when my wife told me that there
\nwas another blackout,\" said Uus Sumirat, a legal counsel on Jl.
\nGatot Subroto, South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"Luckily all my children had gone to school so the blackout
\ndidn't really bother us. And as for my office, we have a
\ngenerator on standby,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Another resident, Benny of Tangerang, said the blackout took
\nplace at about 9:30 a.m.<\/p>\n
\"This is really a bad day for my family as we don't have any
\nwater. The water pump isn't working,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Only myself and my daughter bathed because I have to go to
\nthe office and she has to go to school. But all household chores
\nand other daily tasks are on hold until the electricity comes
\nback on,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said his area was blacked out until 7:30 p.m. on Friday
\nnight, with all electrical equipment, including refrigerators,
\nout of commission. \"Our fresh food could go rotten.\"<\/p>\n
Several traffic lights around the city were not working, but
\ntraffic was relatively smooth. Traffic police were present, for
\nexample, at the Pancoran intersection, directing traffic.<\/p>\n
But thousands of electric train passengers were again stranded
\nas no trains were running from 8:20 a.m.<\/p>\n
\"Electricity came back on at about 12 p.m. allowing electric
\ntrains to operate,\" spokesman of the Greater Jakarta division of
\nstate PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), Zainal Abidin, said.<\/p>\n
\"We don't have a backup system to run the trains as we need
\n1,500 volts. The specification is different from our generators
\nprepared for train stations and our signal system.\"<\/p>\n
Zainal said the company had yet to estimate the losses caused
\nby both the blackouts.<\/p>\n
\"It is difficult to calculate intangible assets such as power
\nsupply.<\/p>\n
\"It is also difficult even if we use a passenger count as we
\nstill use a manual system. We have yet to computerize our
\nticketing system,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital spokesman Andi told The
\nJakarta Post that the blackouts did not disrupt services in the
\nhospital's critical units.<\/p>\n
\"We have a generator to supply power to the intensive care
\nunit, emergency room, operating theaters and incubators,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"But we cannot use the water pumps as the power is not enough
\nfor all parts of the hospital.<\/p>\n
\"However, we have enough water in reserve to last until
\nSaturday morning. But if the blackout continues until Saturday,
\nwe will run out of water,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Tap water company PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) also reported
\nthat the blackouts had disrupted its clean water supply to
\ncustomers.<\/p>\n
\"We cannot serve our customers because our water treatment
\nplants in Pejompongan, Cilandak, Taman Kota and Muara Karang had
\nto stop their production and distribution,\" Palyja's public
\nrelations manager, Maria Sidabutar, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\"Customers are requested to use their water sparingly as we
\nneed at least 12 hours to normalize our clean water supply.\"<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Customers Foundation (YLKI) urged
\nresidents to file a class action lawsuit against PLN as
\nguaranteed by the 1999 Customers Protection Law.<\/p>\n
\"The law allows the customers to file a class action lawsuit.
\nEven if only two customers are willing to do so, they can, as the
\nlaw states that it should be more than one customer,\" head of
\nYLKI's legal division, Tulus Abadi, told the Post by cell phone.<\/p>\n
\"We are ready to help customers if they deem it necessary,\" he
\nsaid, adding that customers should use their right to file a
\nclass action lawsuit to stop PLN acting irresponsibly and
\narbitrarily in the future.<\/p>\n
Pian, a resident of Cikupa in Tangerang, supported Tulus'
\nstatement. \"I think they should do it. It would at least give a
\nlesson to the state company that it has to improve its public
\nservice,\" he said.<\/p>\n
PLN president Eddie Widiono said it was up to the public to
\nfile a class action suit.<\/p>\n
\"But please also consider our efforts to always improve our
\nservice,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Eddy said the new Electricity Law required PLN to compensate
\ncustomers only if a blackout occurred for three consecutive days.<\/p>\n
PLN reportedly suffered at least Rp 4.5 billion (US$500,000)
\nin losses due to Thursday's blackout.<\/p>\n
Earlier in 1997, YLKI filed a class action lawsuit against PLN
\nwhen a major power failure blacked out most cities in Java and
\nBali.<\/p>\n
\"But we failed to win the case because there was no legal
\nbasis for a case at that time. Now that the law is already there,
\nthe public should avail themselves of the opportunity,\" said
\nTulus.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the City Social Disturbances Monitoring Center
\nrevealed that fires had occurred at 13 locations during the
\nblackout on Thursday evening with a total loss of Rp 1.5 billion.<\/p>\n
\"Most of the fires were caused by candles,\" the center's head
\nof data gathering and processing section, Raya Siahaan, said.<\/p>\n
\"There were no casualties reported. Local police substations
\nare handling the investigations,\" he added.<\/p>\n
The fires happened in Kemayoran, Matraman and Setiabudi, Sawah
\nBesar subdistricts in Central Jakarta; Kampung Makassar, Duren
\nSawit, Kayu Putih, Cililitan and Cipinang subdistricts in East
\nJakarta; Kelapa Gading and Penjaringan in North Jakarta; and
\nCinere in South Jakarta.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/second-blackout-hits-jakarta-normal-activities-disrupted-1447893297",
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