Power blackout irks Medan residents
Apriadi Gunawan The Jakarta Post/Medan
The sun had just set. Sugiran and his family were having dinner together, with various dishes set on the dinner table. But suddenly, while eating, the lights go out.
Spontaneously, every member of the family cries out: "Oh no, the lights are out." Then, everybody stops eating.
"This is insane. The state electricity company is awful," Sugiran grumbles while asking one of his children to go get candles to bring light back into the dinner table.
Fortunately, the family still keeps candles in the house. The children light three candles, one for the dinner table and the others for the living room. The three candles are certainly not enough to illuminate the house. The house is still blanketed in darkness.
The blackout hasn't only hit Sugiran's house but very house and shop located in the Medan Baru and Medang Selayang areas.
And this is not the first time. Residents in the two areas are disappointed as power blackouts have been happening frequently recently. According to some residents, power blackouts have occurred more that 15 times since May 3.
"The power blackouts last for two hours at the shortest. Sometimes it takes over four hours (for power to return). It has cost people a lot, especially for me, who provide Internet services," said Resi, an owner of an Internet cafe in Medan Baru district, Medan.
The power blackouts didn't only happen at night, but also frequently occurred in the morning and afternoon.
Joki Batubara, the owner of a welding workshop, said that the power blackouts had caused delays to his project. He said that he was handling a welding project worth Rp 45 million (US$4,750) and it had to be completed within two months.
"But, due to the power blackout problem, I am pessimistic that the project can meet the deadline," he said.
Joki complained that the blackouts had cost them a lot as due to the delays he had increase his budget for meal allowances and wages for his employees.
Separately, spokesman of PT PLN West Sumatra operations Maradjohan Batubara explained that the power blackouts were not only happening in Medan, but also in other parts of Sumatra island, such as Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.
The power blackouts began on May 3 and would last until June 16.
"The power blackouts have hit the area because we are doing maintenance jobs, a major overhaul, to power plant turbines in Sicanang and Belawan areas," said Maradjohan. He said that the company rotated the power blackouts during the peak power capacity period between 6 p.m and 10 p.m. During peak hours, the power peak capacity rises to 1,060 Megawatts while the available capacity is only 1,050 Megawatts, said Maradjohan. "We have no other option other than to rotate the blackouts," said Maradjohan.
The complaints about blackouts in Medan comes amid PT PLN's plan for rolling blackouts in Java and Bali. The company plans the blackouts as work on lines connecting BP Plc's Offshore Northwest Java field would cut power supplies to the 500 Megawatt PLTGU Muara Karang and the 1,100 Megawatt PLTGU Tanjung Priok generators, which supply the Java-Bali power network.
The blackouts did not materialize on Monday, as power demand was still below the capacity produced by PT PLN.