Susilo's calls fall on deaf ears in regions

The Jakarta Post, Medan, Semarang, Bandung

While government offices in Jakarta have complied with the President's call for energy conservation, the call has fallen on deaf ears in regional government offices.

Lights were on in the afternoon in some regional offices on Tuesday, air conditioners were still set below 20 degrees Celsius and the streets were illuminated as brightly as ever on Monday night.

Mulyadi Hutahaen, 34, an employee of a private company in Medan city was surprised on Tuesday afternoon that, in spite of the bright day, lights behind the North Sumatra governor's office were still switched on. "The lights are supposed to be turned off," said Mulyadi.

Besides the lights, air conditioners in the governor's office remained on a low setting.

Nearby the Medan mayor's official residence the situation on Monday night was no better with decorative street lights also turned on.

Spokesman of state power firm PT PLN's North Sumatra division Agus Mulyadi said PLN had directly asked government offices to save energy, particularly at night.

"The use of street lights across the city has absorbed some 40 percent of the total 1,100 Megawatt of power at night. We have asked the government to turn off decorative lights but the call has not been heeded," said Agus on Tuesday.

In Bandung city, despite the president's call, decorative lights in the lobby of the Bandung City Council building were burning bright. Employees, meanwhile, were playing computer games, rather than turning off their computers.

"We haven't received an instruction from our office's general affairs department. If we shut the decorative lights down, I am afraid we will be reprimanded by the councillors, who may ask us why the building is so dark," said a municipal council employee, who requested anonymity.

Meantime, in Semarang city, while some government offices in Jakarta have ceased the operation of elevators to the first and second floors, all elevators in the governor's office and the Central Java council building were operating as usual on Tuesday.

However, the drive to conserve energy was underway in some private companies. The general manager of Ciputra Hotel in Semarang, Denny Jatnika, said on Tuesday the hotel had worked hard to save electricity and water long before the President issued a decree on energy saving. "Saving energy means saving money," said Denny.

The fuel saving measures are important as the hotel's electricity and water bills comprise some 13 percent of the hotel's total costs, he said.

However, when it came to air conditioners, Denny said the hotel could not comply with the President's call as the hotel industry was a service industry and guests would be uncomfortable if the air conditioners were switched off.

In Pekanbaru city, Riau province, some housewives said the energy saving measures had been good for their families.

"My husband used to watch television until 3 a.m, but since television stations are banned from airing programs between 1 a.m and 5 a.m, he has to go to bed early," said Ana, a Pekanbaru resident, quoted as saying by Antara news agency.

The ban officially took effect at dawn on Tuesday, with all TV stations in compliance with it.

Yanti, another housewife in Pekanbaru, said energy was being saved in more than one way as, on top of watching TV, her husband would usually leave on the fan, lamps and the air conditioner until the early hours of the morning.