Tangled Cables in Kalideres, West Jakarta, Increasingly Worry Residents
Jakarta (ANTARA) - A chaotic mess of utility cables hanging low over roads is causing growing anxiety among residents on Jalan Peta Barat and Jalan Peta Selatan in Kalideres, West Jakarta.
A local resident named Adit (33) said that almost every day, large trucks get caught on the dangling cables in the area. He added that he and other residents often have to take the initiative to move cables that have snapped after being snagged by trucks.
“When a cable breaks, we take the initiative to move it aside immediately before there is a victim,” Adit told reporters on Tuesday.
During the interview on Tuesday afternoon, a large truck passed by and snagged an overhead cable. Adit immediately ran and cleared the broken cable that had been caught by the truck. “Luckily, it didn’t hit any other passing motorists,” he said.
Adit revealed that the tangled, broken cables frequently cause casualties. He admitted to once preparing medical supplies such as antiseptic and plasters to anticipate helping victims who get caught in the cables.
“I used to carry Betadine and plasters to help people who fell. There was once a young couple who fell, and I took them aside and treated them,” he said. “The cable breaks when hit by a truck, then it hangs down, gets caught on a passing motorbike, and the rider falls. If only they could be tidied up so it looks neat and doesn’t disturb anyone. We often help people here.”
Titi (44), a stall owner whose building is used as a point to tie up broken overhead cables, expressed similar concerns. “There have been cases of people falling, yes. But they were just ordinary falls, not too dangerous,” she said.
Titi admitted she does not dare to fix the cables herself for fear of electrocution. However, she hopes the government can be fair in addressing the overhead cable problem. She stressed that the clean-up must be comprehensive, not just at certain points. “If possible, they should be tidied up properly, not carelessly. This mess has been here for a long time,” she said.
Observations at the location showed that many overhead cables in the area, particularly on Jalan Peta Selatan and Jalan Peta Barat, remain in a chaotic state. Meanwhile, cables in the nearby Citra Garden housing complex appeared to have been neatly organised.
The issue of tangled cables has recently drawn significant public attention. This follows the case of a student from SMAN 6 Jakarta, identified by the initials NAEP (16), who died after falling from a motorbike that got caught on a cable and was then run over by a bus in South Jakarta. Previously, a dangling cable in the Taman Sari area of West Jakarta went viral after it snagged a bus.