Blackout plunges city into darkness for hours
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.