Blackout plunges city into darkness for hours
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Much of Greater Jakarta was in the dark on Thursday evening as most of the area was hit by power blackouts for more than three hours, causing confusion and traffic jams in many parts of the region.
The blackout was due to a problem along the 500-kilovolt Suralaya-Cibinong-Bekasi transmission system.
The problem started at 5:53 p.m. causing 40 electricity relay stations in Greater Jakarta to be without power, according to state power company PLN.
PLN's assistant manager for Greater Jakarta distribution, Yuniarto said only nine relay stations functioned normally.
They were Duri Kosambi, Senayan, Tangerang, Cengkareng, Mampang Baru, Budi Kemulian, Muara Karang, Jatake, and Tangerang Baru.
"Most areas in Greater Jakarta including Bekasi and Tangerang were affected by the power blackout," Yuniarto told The Jakarta Post said.
Yuniarto said PLN's technicians were trying to resolve the problem once it occurred and expected that it would be fixed complete within three to five hours.
The company's president director Eddy Widyono said the blackout affected about 4 million of consumers.
He said PLN could lose more Rp 4.5 billion (US$500,000) because of the incident.
"But the people must suffer more than us. We apologize for the incident," he was quoted by Antara as saying, adding that PLN was ready to face any possible class action suit filed by the consumers.
As of 11:15 p.m. some people contacted by the Post in various areas said that the power was still out.
One resident in Kota reported that her power came back on at 11:15 p.m., however, and another customer, A'ay of Greenville housing complex in West Jakarta reported that her power came on around 10:30 pm.
Residents of Serpong, Banten, however, said that the lights in that area were still off.
Despite the traffic congestion due to the dysfunctional traffic lights, the situation was relatively calm, as police officers were deployed at many intersections to manage the traffic.
In contrast to the darkness in other parts of the city, the Mangga Besar nightspot district in West Jakarta was well illuminated as each nightspot has its own generator set guaranteeing uninterrupted power.
The Medan Merdeka area surrounding the National Monument also still enjoyed lights as it is given high priority by the government.
The Presidential Palace is located on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara while the Vice Presidential Palace, City Hall and the U.S. embassy are all located on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan.
Several ministries and other important institutions are also located on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat.
Gambir train station, the Embassy of the Holy See and headquarters of the Army Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) are located on Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur.
The power blackout also disrupted service of electrified trains operated by state-owned PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) causing thousands of commuters to be stranded for hours.
Most of the trains were stopped between stations blocking long-range trains using diesel locomotives.
Spokesman of PT KAI's Greater Jakarta division, Zainal Abidin said all trains scheduled to leave after 5:50 p.m. suffered delays.
As for the affected passengers, PT KAI offered the passengers to use Friday's trains or a refund.
Meanwhile, flag carrier Garuda Indonesia reported that everything ran as usual despite the power blackout.
"All of our flights departed as usual so far and there is no delay," said a Garuda employee, Yuni, over the phone.
The last major blackout in Greater Jakarta was in May 2000. The incident caused PLN customers to suffer billions of rupiah in economic losses.
A more serious blackout occurred in 1997 and affected Java and Bali islands.