Bright sparks at City Hall order power plug pulled

Bright sparks at City Hall order power plug pulled

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In response to the recent presidential instruction on energy
conservation, Governor Sutiyoso issued an instruction on Monday
requiring all Jakartans, especially building managements across
the capital, to reduce power consumption for lighting, air-
conditioning and lifts.

"Our country is among the nations that are too extravagant
with energy. We all need to save energy to help ease the
country's economic difficulties," Sutiyoso told reporters at City
Hall.

In the instruction, Sutiyoso requires building managements to
set air-conditioner temperatures at 25 degrees Celsius as the
higher the temperature, the less energy is consumed.

The instruction also requires the more efficient use of lifts,
elevators and lighting.

The governor admitted, however, that the sanctions contained
in the instruction only applied to civil servants. The
administration had no power to punish private individuals or
firms that failed to abide by the recommendations.

"I will just reprimand them (private firms) for having no
sense of crisis or responsibility to the community," he said.

He promised to carry out field checks himself to monitor the
implementation of the instruction.

"This instruction is of indefinite duration as no specific
timeframe applies to the energy conservation drive," he said,
referring to the presidential instruction on energy conservation
that was issued last Sunday.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono instructed officials in
both central and local government institutions on Sunday to issue
directives requiring the saving of energy.

The instruction also states that local administrations should
promote the program among the public and private sector in their
respective regions by instituting various programs to conserve
energy, including increasing vehicle taxes and parking fees, and
imposing extensive traffic restrictions.

The Jakarta administration said that it had yet to adopt such
wide-ranging measures to save fuel in the capital, arguing that
it was still struggling to improve the public transportation
system in the city so as to provide alternative means of
transportation for those who owned cars.

Under the presidential instruction, government officials are
required to submit progress report on the energy conservation
drive every six months.

Jakarta City Secretary Ritola Tasmaya said that Sutiyoso's
instruction applied to municipal down to subdistrict level civil
servants from Monday.

At City Hall, the building management will operate all eight lifts
in the morning when civil servants arrive for work and in the
afternoon when they go home, while only four lifts will be
operated in the intervening period.

"We are not yet imposing the instruction on the managements of
private buildings, like shopping malls, apartment complexes,
hotels and restaurants, as we will first have to disseminate the
instruction. We will then give them a week to study it," Ritola
said.

Aside from building managements, the administration said it
would reduce the level of lighting on the streets, in public
places and for outdoor advertising, and cut back on the operation
of the city's fountains.

"Jakarta won't be totally dark as we will keep some lights on.
But, of course, it will be less sparkling at night," he said.

The central government has said that it hoped the fuel-
conservation drive would slash fuel consumption by between 5
percent and 10 percent, or at least keep it in line with this
year's fuel consumption quota.

The government has set a quota of 59.69 million kiloliters for
domestic fuel consumption this year. However, the demand for fuel
rose by 10 percent in the first semester.