YLKI prepares class action guidelines

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) is preparing guidelines for customers affected by two power blackouts in the Greater Jakarta area last week to file a class action against state-owned electricity company PT PLN.

One of YLKI's lawyers, Sudaryatmo, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that the foundation was gathering information about the losses suffered by residents as a direct result of the blackouts.

"We need to know where the affected areas were and how big the losses were. That's why we urge the customers to send in written statements on their losses," he said.

"The statement should contain a description of the power outage, such as where and for how long. It must also be accompanied by their most recent electricity bill."

Sudaryatmo said the foundation had not received any written statements from the public, but said there many phone calls inquiring about the possible class action.

Earlier on Sunday, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said in Bandung that the government was preparing a compensation package for those affected by the power outage. He said that the ministry's electric and power development directorate general was discussing the compensation package with PLN's board of directors.

Contacted separately, PLN corporate secretary Muljo Adji A.G. told the Post that the company had not entered into any discussions yet about a compensation package.

"We are following a current regulation that states compensation will only be given if the blackout lasts for three consecutive days," he said.

Commenting on Purnomo's statement, Sudaryatmo said that any package should give fair compensation to customers affected by the blackouts.

He cited an example in which residential customers in Bogor received only Rp 500 (5 U.S. cents) each, following a seven-day blackout there in 2000.

Meanwhile, Muljo said the company failed to pinpoint the exact locations of the transmission problems but stressed that readings from safety devices confirmed that there were transmission problems.

"We checked the transmission lines but we did not find any objects that could have caused the problem," he said.

In May 2000, it took one day for PLN to find out what the cause was for a similar blackout, and it turned out to be a short circuit caused by the fronds of a coconut tree.