Appointment of Konsuil questioned

Leony Aurora , Jakarta

Consumer organizations are questioning the responsibilities and the appointment of a national committee that will inspect the installation of low-voltage electricity facilities, starting next month.

Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) chairwoman Indah Suksmaningsih told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that contractors installing electrical facilities in houses had been certified by state power firm PT PLN.

"Why does Konsuil (the National Committee for Safety of Electrical Installation) need to check their work?" said Indah. "If there is a fire caused by a short circuit within the inspection's validity period, can Konsuil be held responsible?"

The government appointed Konsuil on Monday to do electricity inspections, valid for 10 years, in households in Java and Bali, in order to maintain safety.

Data from the Jakarta Fire Department shows that in the last seven years, electrical malfunctions caused 45 percent to 52 percent of fires. As of June this year, electrical problems were responsible for 215 of 344 fires in the capital.

Konsuil has said that it would check only new houses this year. Prospective consumers without safety certificates from the committee will be left without electricity.

Existing homes will be checked only if owners report to Konsuil and pay for the service beforehand.

Indah said that if the main justification for the policy was one of safety, the committee should first inspect old houses, especially those in poor areas. "PLN should cover the inspection cost for the needy."

The inspection fee applied will be determined by the voltage used, with a minimum of Rp 40,000 for 450 volt-ampere (VA) consumers and a maximum of Rp 60,000 for 2,200 VA users.

Fabby Tumiwa of the Working Group on Power Sector Restructuring said the government and PLN should have sought customers' approval on the inspections and the fees involved, as customers would bear the financial burden.

"Who determined the fees and what were they based on?" he said.

Fabby asserted that there should have been an open tender for the project. "It (the project) is worth trillions of rupiah, with 30 million households in Indonesia having an electricity connection."

He was also critical that the members of Konsuil were appointed without public involvement.

Appointed Konsuil members include PLN, the Indonesian Association of Electrical and Mechanical Contractors (AKLI), the Communications Forum of the Electrical Equipment Industry (FKIPTL) and the Consultative Committee of Indonesian Electricity Consumers.

Meanwhile, to serve some 110,000 people in Greater Jakarta applying for electricity connections every year, Konsuil Jakarta chapter head Djuhana Djoekardi said that 420 inspections would be carried out every day (not 420 until the end of the year as previously reported) by the 170 inspectors that the chapter had employed.

"Each house will need two inspectors and take one to two hours to inspect," he said. The inspections would start next month, when PLN was ready, he added.