Susilo's calls fall on deaf ears in regions

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.