Out of the ashes: In this file photo, residents walk among the debris of their houses in Jembatan Besi, West Jakarta, after a large fire in December last year that claimed one life. Fires, mostly caused by short circuits, have become a regular occurrence in the densely populated area. JP/J. Adiguna
Aan (not his real name), a resident of Pulo Kandang neighborhood in
Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, said living in a fire-prone area was much
better for him than having no house at all.
Having been living in the densely populated area for more than five years, the 46-year-old mechanic said he was getting used to the threat of fires since he had seen incidents such as these almost every year.
“Last year a fire razed dozens of houses here, including mine,” the father of two told The Jakarta Post recently at his semipermanent plywood house.
“Instead of moving somewhere else, I decided to rebuild my house and stay here because it is close to my workplace and I’m already familiar with the people around here.”
An old woman who lives in the same alley as Aan shared a similar up-and-down story.
Moving to the area in the late 1990’s, the woman — who makes money selling bottled beverages together with her son and daughter-in-law — recalled how a huge fire had demolished her home in 2002.
“The fire spread so quickly,” she said.
“I didn’t even have a chance to collect any of my belongings except the clothes I was wearing.”
When they were asked why their neighborhood had become so vulnerable to fires, both Aan and the woman agreed it was because most residents in the neighborhood used electricity sourced from illegal networks.
Registering for with PLN, Aan said, was too expensive for most residents, many of whom work in the informal sector.
“The easiest way [to get power] is to run a cable to our house from a house that already has power,” he said, admitting that he also got electricity in this way.
Data from the city fire-fighting agency shows that more than 60 percent of the 130 fires in Jakarta between January and March 17 were caused by electrical faults including short circuits.
Fires also occurred more often in densely populated neighborhoods, such as Pulo Kandang and Tambora (West Jakarta), where many low-income residents have limited concern and knowledge about electrical safety.
The situation has worsened since an increasing number of residents practice “electricity theft”.
In December last year, for example, a PLN electricity distribution panel on nearby Jl. Yos Sudarso, North Jakarta, exploded. The panel, supplying electricity to the Pulo Kandang neighborhood, was allegedly exceeding its power capacity, indicating the high level of electricity theft in the area.
Responding to the issue, PLN Greater Jakarta general manager Purnomo Willy said his company conducted surveillance every day.
“Our field officers must record and immediately report any illegal power networks they spot in the field,” he said
Using this strategy, PLN Jakarta had successfully reduced power distribution losses from 10.1 percent in January to 8.95 percent in early March, Purnomo said.
“The most important thing is we can make sure all registered PLN customers are protected with MCB [miniature circuit breaker] devices, which are a very reliable way to prevent fires triggered by problems such as short circuits,” he said.
PLN, Purnomo said, had also worked with the Jakarta Parks and Cemeteries Agency to make sure tree branches did not damage overhead power cables in the streets.
“Asking the agency to cut branches off trees regularly helps us to reduce potential damage to cables.”
Jakarta currently has 3.5 million power subscribers, 92 percent of which are households.
In Jakarta alone, at its peak power consumption reaches 5,200 (MW) during the day and 4,600 (MW) at night. These amounts are almost equal to the peak consumption for the entire West Java and
Banten area.
