Anyone for occasional power cut?

Tue, 11/17/2009 1:18 PM  |  City

The faint sound from the water pump engine indicates that the power is back on. Like a phoenix rising from its ashes my house comes back to life. I hear my maid exclaim "Thank God" alongside the sound of tap water running. Her husband, the driver, rushes to the bathroom, presumably for the long-awaited bath. Even my cat, apparently awoken by sudden commotion, curiously looks around.

It's almost 10 a.m. and the electricity has been out since 2 a.m. With the absence of power, almost all activities stop in my household as I forbid anything that needs water like washing, bathing. Even cooking is minimized to save water for emergencies (read: bathroom).

That basically leaves nothing much that can be done. I can't help but marvel at the power PLN holds over my life. Or the power of the guy that switches on the power. He must feel like a god giving life.

For the last couple of months Jakarta has been gripped by frequent blackouts and they become more frequent and more prolonged.

While PLN tries to fix or replace burnt transformers of power distributing units in Kembangan, West Jakarta, and Cawang, East Jakarta, power is rationed to ease the load of the remaining units.

The rationing occurs normally once a day on alternate days for about 6 to 7 hours but sometimes if PLN decides your area is the lucky zone of the day, you get the jackpot of two blackouts in a row. My maid informs me that the situation will continue until January.

The media has even worse news; power cuts will go on indefinitely as PLN is cannot afford the needed transformers.

Jakarta residents have no choice but to leave it to the government to fix this problem and deal with this lifestyle changing inconvenience.

For me life goes on without much disruption except now I have to think hard before buying perishable food. Or reschedule the chores.

In fact, although I greatly sympathize with businesses that have to bear the consequences of having their operations disrupted or those whose lives may have been subject to miseries, I even think that blackouts do bring a lot of benefit for mankind and the environment.

No power means less impact on the environment. Less burden on your finances; however I have yet to check if there's any reduced numbers in my bill. We are forced to stay away from the computer and TV, which is good for our health.

Now I'm finally able to pick up the book that I bought but didn't have time to read. Not to mention idle chats over "candlelit" dinner with my daughter who usually rushes her dinner as if chased by a tiger so she can go back to Facebook and blogs.

Call me crazy but I think we should have regular blackout days, like the Car Free Day programs, even after the transformers are fixed - but if only they are timed and informed to the public so that household activities can be better organized. Some say that the schedule is available on line but I found nothing on the PLN website.

So here's to PLN: why not work more efficiently and arrange the power cuts in a more organized and scheduled manner and inform us of the schedules via major newspapers on weekly or biweekly basis.

That would be a good customer service for the lousy situation and will help your customers a great deal, should the situation persist indefinitely.

- S. Duowe

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