F

ollowing a spike in fires blamed on short circuits involving illegal connections to the city’s power grid, the Jakarta administration is drafting a new bylaw that would allow it to bypass the state electricity authority to clamp down on illegal power connections.

Governor Fauzi Bowo said the bylaw was needed because more than 40 percent of Jakartans were connected to Jakarta’s electrical grid via illegal connections. He said that these jury-rigged connections were prone to short circuits, and caused fires.

“To reduce the number of illegal connections, we need to issue a bylaw that can serve as a legal basis for the city to take action,” Fauzi said.

He said that with the planned bylaw, the city could require that only legal residents with building permits could file a proposal to get electricity connection from state electricity firm PLN.

“Furthermore, we will require that all electricity connections in the city be registered with the city Inspectorate,” he said.

With the proposed bylaw, the city would have the authority to dispatch district and subdistrict officials to investigate illegal power rigs and file reports to the local branch office of PLN.

Fauzi said that the primary goal of the planned bylaw would be to reduce electricity theft and by doing so prevent fires.

The administration has said that faulty wiring was responsible for more than 60 percent of the fires in the city this year.

As of late August, the administration had recorded 626 fires in the city.

The fires killed 11 people and injured 53 others, including seven firefighters, and caused a total of Rp 159.94 billion (US$17.6 million) in losses, and affected 2,709 families or 9,349 people.

In August alone, the fire department recorded a total of 141 fires.

Earlier this week, a fire razed a densely populated area in Bendungan Hilir in Central Jakarta.

Around 100 houses burned down in the fire, which affected around 1,500 people.

An initial investigation found indications that faulty wiring could have caused the fire.

Separately, City Fire Department head Paimin Napitupulu said that the bylaw would help his agency do its job.

“The sooner the city passes the bylaw, the faster the city administration can work to sever illegal power connections in the city,” Paimin said.

He said that PLN was in charge of all electricity connections in the city.

“Our officials often find power rigs in areas that are not supposed to be used as residential areas, like on river banks or under elevated toll roads. Yet, we don’t have the authority to shut them down,” Paimin said.

Earlier this month, the city administration held a joint operation with PLN to raid neighborhoods known to have set up illegal power rigs.

The raids, which took place in Greater Jakarta’s five municipalities, involved firefighters, public order officers and agency officials.

During the crackdown, the city focused on 35 working class neighborhoods notorious for their frequent fire incidents, including Tambora and Pademangan in West Jakarta, Penjaringan and Cilincing in North Jakarta, and Cipinang and Cakung in East Jakarta.

Fires in these neighborhoods are notoriously difficult to handle, as houses tend to be closely packed together and made from flammable materials, and lack proper access to water hydrants or water sources.