PLN cuts illegal connections

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

In a bid to reduce "leakage" of electricity, state electricity firm PLN has cut hundreds of illegal connections in Depok, West Java on Thursday.

Some 40 PLN employees and dozens of police officers combed 512 areas where illegal connections were rampant, including the Atsiri Permai housing complex in Bojong Gede and areas along Jl. Kaca Piring in Depok and along Jl. Parung in Bogor.

Most of the illegal connections were for street lighting.

"No one was arrested as we have no idea who made these illegal connections. We'll let the police investigate it. That's why we handed over confiscated bulbs and cables to them," PLN area manager for Depok Hadi Suhana told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Hadi said over 3,300 places in Depok had been identified as using illegal electricity, with the state company losing around Rp 100 million (US$10,000) per month.

He said they would continue to conduct similar operations until there were no more illegal connections in those areas.

PLN spokesman Aryo Subijoko said that the operations in Depok were part of efforts to reduce losses of electricity that has occurred over the last several years due to theft and illegal lights.

He said the company had identified thousands of locations in Greater Jakarta that used illegal electricity connections to light up the roads in their neighborhood.

"We cooperate with police as we have no authority to arrest violators. We will hand over all equipment we have confiscated to police," he said.

He said that PLN has lost billions of rupiah to illegal connections in Greater Jakarta alone.

Due to inadequate power supply, PLN has many times conducted rotating blackouts in Java and Bali.

According to data from their Depok office, PLN has lost Rp 100 million every month from illegal road lights in Depok alone.

Many experts, however, say that power theft from illegal connections to households and factories was far higher than that for illegal road lights.