Surabaya City Council Backs Municipal Crackdown on Illegal Fibre Optic Poles
Surabaya — Deputy Speaker of the Surabaya City Council (DPRD) Bahtiyar Rifai has declared his support for the actions taken by the Surabaya Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP) together with the city’s Water Resources and Highways Agency (DSDABM) in cracking down on illegal fibre optic cable poles.
According to Bahtiyar, when contacted in Surabaya on Friday, the enforcement operation forms part of the implementation of Regional Regulation (Perda) No. 5 of 2017 on Utility Network Management.
“This activity is about enforcing the regional regulation. We at the DPRD naturally fully support the municipal government’s measures through Satpol PP and DSDABM to beautify every corner of Surabaya,” Bahtiyar said.
Nevertheless, he cautioned that every demolition action must follow clear administrative stages, and that before enforcement is carried out, pole or cable owners should first be verified and issued graduated warning letters.
“It would be best to carry out verification first, identify the owner, then send them a letter. Issue a first, second, and third warning. If there is no response, then action should be taken in accordance with prevailing regulations,” he said.
He considered the administrative approach important to ensure that regulatory enforcement upholds the principles of fairness and legal certainty.
On the other hand, Bahtiyar also reminded utility network providers to comply with licensing requirements before installing cables or poles within road corridors.
Administrative compliance, he said, is the initial requirement that is always checked when a suspected violation is discovered.
“Before installing cables or poles, it is advisable to first obtain permits from the city government. The paperwork must be complete so as not to create problems in the future,” he said.
Previously, Surabaya’s Satpol PP together with DSDABM carried out enforcement action against dozens of fibre optic cable poles lacking permits across several road sections.
During the operation, officers targeted three locations: Jalan Ngaglik, the southern side of Jalan Kapas Krampung, and the northern side of Jalan Kapas Krampung.
Head of the Satpol PP Enforcement Task Team Agnis Juistitya said the operation successfully confiscated 45 fibre optic cable poles from the three locations.
“On Jalan Ngaglik we secured 10 poles, on the southern side of Jalan Kapas Krampung 19 poles, and on the northern side 16 poles. So in total there were 45 poles that we successfully removed,” he said.