Blackout affects activities in Greater Jakarta

Blackout affects activities in Greater Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of thousands, or perhaps millions, of
people in several parts of Jakarta and Tangerang had their
routines interrupted for hours on Monday after a blackout
occurred at 10:55 a.m.

The total loss suffered by customers of state electricity firm
PT PLN during the four-hour electricity failure could reach
billions of rupiah. Main streets in the capital witnessed heavy
traffic congestion when traffic lights stopped working.

Along the streets in West Jakarta and Tangerang owners of air-
conditioned places of business, such as shops and barbershops as
well as other businesses that rely heavily on PLN-supplied
electricity such as gas stations, decided to temporarily close.

Internet Service Providers were also unable to service
customers.

The power supply resumed in stages beginning at 2:30 p.m.

According to PLN spokesman Tito S., the failure was caused by
an electrical short circuit in 150 kilo-volt cables when
residents of Kampung Utan in Ciputat, South Jakarta, chopped down
coconut trees.

"Some of the coconut fronds were lifted by the wind and caused
the short circuit," he told The Jakarta Post by phone in the
evening.

Earlier in the afternoon, head of PLN for Greater Jakarta and
Tangerang distribution Margo Santoso said at a news conference
that the problem occurred along power lines connecting Gandul and
Petukangan in South Jakarta due to unknown reasons.

The electricity failure then automatically shifted the 150
kilo-volt power to the Muara Karang steam-generated power plant
in West Jakarta to compensate the loss.

"This, however, caused the power plant to overload and caused
the breakdown," he added.

Margo said the power plant had a capacity of 600 megawatts and
received a load of 1,200 megawatts a moment before it shut down
automatically.

Tito said the company managed to gradually resume the power
supply by taking power from several other power plants, such as
the Suralaya power plant.

"It's possible to do so as all power plants in Java and Bali
are interconnected. This way we could reduce the burden at the
Muara Karang plant," he said.

According to the company's media release, the electricity
failure affected 15 main electricity relay stations in the
capital, leaving customers in the city, particularly those
residing in the southern and western parts of Greater Jakarta,
without electricity.

The affected areas included those located around the National
Monument (Monas) Square, Jl. Merdeka Barat, Jl. Sudirman, Jl.
Thamrin, Jl. Budi Kemuliaan, Jl. Tanah Abang, Jl. Gajah Mada and
Jl. Hayam Wuruk in Central Jakarta.

In South Jakarta, the power failure affected Mampang, Pondok
Indah, Senayan, the House of Representatives (DPR), Ulujami,
Petukangan and Kebayoran Lama areas.

While areas in West Jakarta included Kebon Jeruk, Angke, Jl.
Daan Mogot and nearby Cengkareng, Jatake and Tangerang, Serpong
and Bumi Serpong Damai housing complex.

The electricity failure hindered most activities in the city.

Tatik, a teller at a Bank Mandiri in the Sarinah shopping
center, said the unfavorable situation forced employees to
manually process all transactions.

"We can't process transactions to other branches because our
computers aren't operating due to the electricity failure," she
said.

A staffer at Harapan Kita Cardiac Hospital said no fatalities
occurred at the hospital.

"Indeed, it is dangerous for patients who depend on life-
support equipment if the electricity suddenly goes off.

"But all cardiac patients are safe here since we have a
generator that turns on automatically if the power from PLN
fails," said Dr. Rini Waas, a staffer at the hospital located on
Jl. S. Parman in West Jakarta.

Jum'ad, a staffer at Citra gas station on Jl. Petak Barat in
Kalideres, West Jakarta, recalled that the station had to close
for about one hour when the power failed until the station's
damaged generator could be fixed.

"We asked them to leave the station while we repaired the
generator to avoid a back up of cars," he said.

According to PLN, a similar failure happened on July 15 last
year in Gandul. A kite was the cause of that failure.
(asa/bkm/nvn)