Court rules to hear April blackout case

JAKARTA (JP): The South Jakarta District Court ruled yesterday it would hear the lawsuit filed by the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) against the State Electricity Company (PLN) for the eight-hour power blackout which hit Java and Bali in April.

Presiding judge K. Simanjuntak dismissed the electricity company's claim that YLKI should instead sue PLN's Kramat Jati branch in East Jakarta, because that is where YLKI buys its electricity from.

Simanjuntak ruled that PLN should be represented by its directors, whose headquarters is in South Jakarta.

YLKI filed the class action suit in May on the grounds that the power blackout affected "more than one million consumers".

The lawsuit said the blackout occurred suddenly and without notice despite the fact that three days before, PLN had found faults at several points in the Java-Bali interconnection system.

YLKI, being represented by the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, is demanding PLN pay Rp 1,464,000 (US$542) in material and non- material damages, and Rp 664,000 each to electricity consumers affected by the blackout on Sunday, April 13.

YLKI is also demanding that PLN opens counters at its offices in Java and Bali for people seeking compensation.

The Minister of Mines and Energy, I.B. Sudjana, had said power was cut to repair earlier detected faults at the Gandul transmission I and load control station in Cinere, South Jakarta.

Sunday was chosen for the power cut because most factories and commercial offices were closed, he said.

While repair work was underway, transmission line II overloaded because the three electronic cards at Gandul that provided load protection did not work, causing the Suralaya power station to fail, cutting off power to most areas in Java and Bali.

YLKI's chairwoman, Tini Hadad, said after the session the ruling showed "the court is being fair."

She said her organization would be ready with witnesses and evidence for the trial which will start next Tuesday.

A lawyer for PLN, Muhamad Harijono, said the company's lawyers were also ready to face the trial. (05)