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Disruptions abound as blackouts continue
A bevy of government officials, private businessmen and public relations experts, from President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo downward, have expressed their deep disappointment at the blackouts and PLN’s lackluster response to the crisis.
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A man sits inside his store with a candle and an emergency lamp during a major blackout in Jakarta on Monday. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
W
hile power returned to many areas on Sunday night, intermittent blackouts continued to plague households and offices across Greater Jakarta and West Java on Monday, as state-owned electricity firm PLN scrambled to repair the damage.
The massive blackout started at around noon on Sunday and continued until Sunday night, with some areas only getting power back in the early hours of Monday. On Monday morning, however, households in areas ranging from Palmerah, West Jakarta, to Bandung, West Java, were once again affected by intermittent blackouts.
PLN acting president director Sripeni Inten Cahyani said that further, planned, power outages could last until Monday evening, as repairs got underway.
“I can’t say exactly how long the planned outages will last. But we’re expecting other major power plants to balance out the base load starting from 2 p.m.,” she told the press.
Many small businesses, such as the stores in BSD City modern market in Serpong, Banten, were inconvenienced by the blackouts.
"Our store has a generator. We started using the generator yesterday, but we have to reduce our electricity use due to limited power generated,” Sri, an employee at baking goods store Laris, told The Jakarta Post on Monday. “We turned off the air conditioner and use a small electric fan instead.”
Transportation in the affected areas has begun to operate normally, although there were still some glitches in several locations.
