West Jakarta Mayor Responds to Chaotic Overhead Cables

West Jakarta Mayor Iin Mutmainnah has stated that the chaotic overhead cables along Jalan Peta Barat and Jalan Peta Selatan in Kalideres consist of a mixture of various lines, including PLN electricity cables and those belonging to telecom providers. She said the effort to organise the tangled cables, which hang down into the roadway, is currently a focus for the Bina Marga Sub-department in collaboration with the Association of Telecommunication Network Operators (Apjatel). “The messy cables are a mix of different types, there are PLN cables and provider cables. Cable management is a work target for the Bina Marga Sub-department, assisted by Apjatel,” Iin said via text message in Jakarta on Tuesday. Ideally, Iin noted, these overhead cables should be arranged using the ducting method, which involves creating closed or open channels to house, direct, and protect the cables. “Like on Thamrin-Sudirman, that is the ideal, already arranged inside ducting. For West Jakarta, in front of Tarumanegara University (Untar) and several other places, you can ask Bina Marga. I am currently pushing for cable management in front of Trisakti University campus, like what was done in front of Untar campus,” she said. Previously, the chaotic utility cables dangling towards the road had increasingly worried residents of Jalan Peta Barat and Jalan Peta Selatan in Kalideres, West Jakarta. A local resident named Adit claimed that almost every day a large truck gets snagged on the hanging cables in the area. Furthermore, Adit and other residents frequently have to move aside cables that eventually snap after being caught by trucks. “If a cable breaks, we take the initiative, sir, we immediately move it aside before there are any victims,” Adit told reporters at the location on Tuesday. While being interviewed around 2.30 p.m. Western Indonesian Time, a large truck passed by and snagged the overhead cables at the site. Adit then ran over and fixed the cable that had snapped after being caught by the large truck. “Luckily it didn’t hit any other motorists passing by,” he said.