Power outage hits parts of Jakarta

A number of areas in Jakarta were hit by a power outage for several hours on Thursday due the malfunction of a high-voltage electricity transmission cable between Cibinong and Bekasi.

Eddie Widiono S., the president director of state -owned electricity company PLN, denied that the blackout was caused by an act of sabotage, saying that "we've had a technical problem in the 500 kilovolt (KV) transmission cable between Bekasi and Cibinong."

"We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the blackout. But we'll not provide any compensation for that," he told the press. He added that the power outage had also caused traffic jams in several main roads.

He said the malfunction occurred at 4:38 p.m. and PLN managed to repair it by 5:15 p.m.

The transmission malfunction affected 47 electrical relay stations. The stations produce 1700 megawatts of electricity for a number of areas in North, East, Central and South Jakarta, including Angke, Ancol, Tanjung Priok, Gedung Pola, Cempaka Putih, Plumpang, Marunda, Mangga Besar, Kelapa Gading, Penggilingan, Pulogadung, Pondok Kelapa, Kalimalang, Pondok Gede, Gambir, Rawamangun, Cawang, Karet, Setiabudi, Kebayoran Baru and Bekasi.

W. Sulaiman, a senior official of state-owned electricity company PLN, told The Jakarta Post that the electricity blackout was not the result of an explosion.

"It was caused by a broken transmission cable between Bekasi and Cibinong. As a result 21 electrical relay stations were unable to function," he said.

The malfunction also caused heavy traffic in many parts of the city. (*)