Hundreds protest PLN lines
Hundreds protest PLN lines
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
More than 700 families staged a rally again on Monday in Bandung,
West Java, to demand that they be compensated or relocated from
their current residential areas beneath dangerous high-voltage
transmission lines.
The protesters were from six subdistricts of Rancaekek,
Solokan Jeruk, Ciparay, Arjasari, Cicalengka and Banjaran. They
marched to the West Java legislative council to convey their
grievances.
They expressed worry about their safety while living so near
the high-voltage transmission lines (SUTET) operated by state-
owned electricity company PT PLN.
"We have come many times to the Bandung legislative council,
the Jakarta office of PLN and the operator of the Java-Bali-Nusa
Tenggara SUTET project in Semarang (Central Java). But we have
not gotten any answers," said Jajang Rusmawan, 49, a protester
from Padamukti village in Solokan Jeruk.
He said the 500-kilovolt transmission lines above their
residential areas caused real anxiety and health problems.
Jajang said the power lines had claimed the life of his
neighbor, identified as Jamban, 50, who was electrocuted during a
rainstorm.
Jajang's wife and some other villagers Padamukti often get
headaches and there has been a noticeable lack of circulation in
their legs, which they blame on the latent electricity of the
high-powered lines.
"We want PLN officials and councillors or government officials
to visit our houses. We want them to try to imagine how we can
live calmly if all metal objects, including regular house keys,
can produce electricity when test devices are put on them,"
Jajang said.
Ujang Syaripudin, who leads the Bandung Association of SUTET
Victims (IKKS), said the protesters demanded that PLN relocate
them or pay them compensations to buy plots of land to build new
houses in safer areas.
They said the compensation should be between Rp 400,000
(US$47) and Rp 1.2 million per square meter.
Ujang said the residents had never received any compensation
since the transmission lines were installed in 1999 and began
operating two years later.
At the time, they were afraid of demanding compensation as the
project managers used a "militaristic approach" against the
locals, he added.
Ujang urged PT PLN to comply with Law No. 20/2002 on
electricity, under which the company must compensate for land,
buildings and farms affected by the installment of transmission
lines.
However, the Ministry of Mines and Energy still enforces
Ministerial Decree No. 01.P/047/MPE/1992 on SUTET, which
stipulates that the government does not clear land below high-
voltage transmission lines or compensate those that live near
them.
Irfan Anshori, chairman of the council's Commission E, refused
to meet with the protesters but said the problem with SUTET
should be solved by PT PLN.
"Since January 2003, we have received more than 20 formal
complaints over SUTET. If it continues, it could harm general
security and stability," he added.