R

esidents of Jakarta are bracing themselves in anticipation of five days of blackouts this week, following damage to the extra high voltage power lines (Sutet) that supply electricity to the capital.

State power firm PT PLN announced over the weekend that the company would be forced to instigate a series of blackouts in Jakarta and Tangerang, Banten, after a landslide damaged a 500-kilovolt-capacity Sutet in Sumedang, West Java. According to the PLN’s website, the power supplied from eastern Java to Jakarta and West Java decreased by 750 megawatts due to the incident.

“Therefore, we plan to apply the rotating blackouts from Monday to Friday,” PLN Jakarta chapter spokesman Riza Indrawan explained on Sunday.

The PLN will cut power for 12 hours a day from 9 a.m. The company plans to divide it into four three-hour periods. The company called on residents to reduce the use of electricity at home or at work to help the company.

PLN spokesman Bambang Dwijayanto promised that the load-shedding would not affect vital facilities. “We will prioritize hospitals and public facilities so [the blackouts] won’t affect public services,” Bambang told The Jakarta Post.

The PLN would also optimize other power plants, including the Indramayu, Lontar Tangerang and Priok power plants, to assist in the supply of power to Jakarta and West Java.

Public facilities, small- and medium-enterprises and households are among those to be affected by the scheduled blackouts, which will hit most parts of the capital.

Plaza Indonesia shopping mall spokeswoman Astri Abyanti said that the Central Jakarta mall was ready for the blackouts. “We will prepare our generator a few hours before our area is hit by the shutdown. As long as the blackout is on schedule, there will be no problem,” she said.

State-owned Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM) president director Czeresna Heriawan Soejono ensured that the power-cuts would not disrupt the hospital. “We will only be affected by the blackout for one night. Our power needs will be met by our generators,” he said.

An employee from the Palmerah community health center (puskesmas), Dian, said that the center had no problem anticipating rotating blackouts. “We are prepared, even without prior warning [from the PLN],” she told the Post.

Zaenab, a baker who also owns a boarding house in Rawa Belong, West Jakarta, acknowledged that the planned blackout would affect her business. “I rely heavily on electricity to bake. So, I’ll have to work a few hours ahead of the schedule announced by PLN,” she said. “I will also tell my [boarding house] tenants about the planned blackout so that they won’t complain to me. It won’t be a problem if applied during working hours, though, as there will be nobody in the house.”

Ratih Oktamaira, a breast feeding mother from Cibubur, East Jakarta, said she was not worried about the plan, saying she already had a strategy to save bottles of breast milk she stored in the refrigerator. “I will put a big chunk of ice in my freezer,” she said. “My plan B is to go to a relative’s or friend’s home that’s not affected.”

For more information on the rolling blackouts, please check www.pln.co.id or call the PLN call center on 123.