Street Lights in Malahayati, East Jakarta, Back to Normal After Panel Components Stolen

The East Jakarta Road Infrastructure Sub-Department has confirmed that the public street lighting (PJU) along Jalan Laksamana Malahayati in Cipinang Muara, Jatinegara, which had previously gone out, is now functioning again. Previously, 30 PJU units on that road were reported to be off due to components inside the main panel box being stolen by unknown individuals. Head of the East Jakarta Road Infrastructure Sub-Department, Benhard Hutajulu, stated that repairs had been carried out by replacing the missing components in the main panel. He added that the repair process proceeded more quickly than the initial estimate, which had been predicted to take up to two days. Benhard also urged the public to help maintain public facilities, especially road lighting infrastructure. “I urge the community to join in safeguarding public street lighting assets and other infrastructure. Because if they are damaged or stolen, the impact will also be felt by the community,” he said. “The PJU that went out yesterday used 200-watt SS LED lights. But now everything is normal,” said Yanuar. He also revealed that the perpetrators of the panel component theft have not yet been identified. The lack of supervision is one of the obstacles in uncovering the case. Yanuar asked Satgas Bina Marga officers in each sub-district to increase surveillance. If theft occurs, the perpetrators are expected to be caught immediately and reported to the police. Previously, the outage of PJU at the location had gone viral through a video uploaded by the Instagram account @binamargajakartatimur. The East Jakarta Road Infrastructure Sub-Department then conducted an inspection and confirmed that the cause of the lights going out was the theft of components from the main panel. “This was caused by the loss of components in the PJU Panel Box at Substation K 131 due to theft. This will now be followed up immediately by officers for handling and restoration of street lighting function,” read the caption from that account.