Second blackout hits Jakarta, normal activities disrupted

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A power outage occurred in Greater Jakarta yet again on Friday morning, disrupting most people's daily activities and increasing the likelihood of state electricity company PT PLN being hit with a class action suit.

The impact of the blackout was milder than that on Thursday night because it happened when people were on their way to the office or school.

"I was already at my office when my wife told me that there was another blackout," said Uus Sumirat, a legal counsel on Jl. Gatot Subroto, South Jakarta.

"Luckily all my children had gone to school so the blackout didn't really bother us. And as for my office, we have a generator on standby," he added.

Another resident, Benny of Tangerang, said the blackout took place at about 9:30 a.m.

"This is really a bad day for my family as we don't have any water. The water pump isn't working," he said.

"Only myself and my daughter bathed because I have to go to the office and she has to go to school. But all household chores and other daily tasks are on hold until the electricity comes back on," he said.

He said his area was blacked out until 7:30 p.m. on Friday night, with all electrical equipment, including refrigerators, out of commission. "Our fresh food could go rotten."

Several traffic lights around the city were not working, but traffic was relatively smooth. Traffic police were present, for example, at the Pancoran intersection, directing traffic.

But thousands of electric train passengers were again stranded as no trains were running from 8:20 a.m.

"Electricity came back on at about 12 p.m. allowing electric trains to operate," spokesman of the Greater Jakarta division of state PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), Zainal Abidin, said.

"We don't have a backup system to run the trains as we need 1,500 volts. The specification is different from our generators prepared for train stations and our signal system."

Zainal said the company had yet to estimate the losses caused by both the blackouts.

"It is difficult to calculate intangible assets such as power supply.

"It is also difficult even if we use a passenger count as we still use a manual system. We have yet to computerize our ticketing system," he added.

Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital spokesman Andi told The Jakarta Post that the blackouts did not disrupt services in the hospital's critical units.

"We have a generator to supply power to the intensive care unit, emergency room, operating theaters and incubators," he said.

"But we cannot use the water pumps as the power is not enough for all parts of the hospital.

"However, we have enough water in reserve to last until Saturday morning. But if the blackout continues until Saturday, we will run out of water," he added.

Tap water company PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) also reported that the blackouts had disrupted its clean water supply to customers.

"We cannot serve our customers because our water treatment plants in Pejompongan, Cilandak, Taman Kota and Muara Karang had to stop their production and distribution," Palyja's public relations manager, Maria Sidabutar, said in a statement.

"Customers are requested to use their water sparingly as we need at least 12 hours to normalize our clean water supply."

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Customers Foundation (YLKI) urged residents to file a class action lawsuit against PLN as guaranteed by the 1999 Customers Protection Law.

"The law allows the customers to file a class action lawsuit. Even if only two customers are willing to do so, they can, as the law states that it should be more than one customer," head of YLKI's legal division, Tulus Abadi, told the Post by cell phone.

"We are ready to help customers if they deem it necessary," he said, adding that customers should use their right to file a class action lawsuit to stop PLN acting irresponsibly and arbitrarily in the future.

Pian, a resident of Cikupa in Tangerang, supported Tulus' statement. "I think they should do it. It would at least give a lesson to the state company that it has to improve its public service," he said.

PLN president Eddie Widiono said it was up to the public to file a class action suit.

"But please also consider our efforts to always improve our service," he said.

Eddy said the new Electricity Law required PLN to compensate customers only if a blackout occurred for three consecutive days.

PLN reportedly suffered at least Rp 4.5 billion (US$500,000) in losses due to Thursday's blackout.

Earlier in 1997, YLKI filed a class action lawsuit against PLN when a major power failure blacked out most cities in Java and Bali.

"But we failed to win the case because there was no legal basis for a case at that time. Now that the law is already there, the public should avail themselves of the opportunity," said Tulus.

Meanwhile, the City Social Disturbances Monitoring Center revealed that fires had occurred at 13 locations during the blackout on Thursday evening with a total loss of Rp 1.5 billion.

"Most of the fires were caused by candles," the center's head of data gathering and processing section, Raya Siahaan, said.

"There were no casualties reported. Local police substations are handling the investigations," he added.

The fires happened in Kemayoran, Matraman and Setiabudi, Sawah Besar subdistricts in Central Jakarta; Kampung Makassar, Duren Sawit, Kayu Putih, Cililitan and Cipinang subdistricts in East Jakarta; Kelapa Gading and Penjaringan in North Jakarta; and Cinere in South Jakarta.