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Transportation, communications return to normal after blackout, but glitches remain: Ministers
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Passengers ride on an MRT Jakarta train during its first day of commercial operation on April 1. (Antara/Nova Wahyudi)
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ransportation and telecommunications affected by a major blackout in West Java, Banten and Greater Jakarta have begun to operate normally, although there are still some glitches in a number of locations, ministers have said.
Most of the commuter line services in Greater Jakarta, which had been disrupted during the long-hours power outage, had started operating as usual “except for those around Bekasi”, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said on Monday morning.
Airports and seaports in areas across the affected regions had not encountered any problems in serving passengers as the facilities possessed back-up electrical systems that automatically started operating within seconds of the power going out.
However, the MRT Jakarta — the operations of which were severely disrupted by the blackout — had yet to be equipped with adequate back-up electrical systems.
A number of passengers were forced to disembark from at least four trains when they suddenly stopped on the lines between Bendungan Hilir and Istora and between Lebak Bulus and Fatmawati.
“We will soon equip the [MRT] facility with sufficient generators to avoid a recurring disruption,” Budi said.
The MRT operator had announced that the services had returned to normal and would carry commuters from 5 a.m. to 12 a.m. as usual.
The major power outage affected millions of residents and thousands of public facilities in the western part of Java on Sunday afternoon. The electricity went out at 11:50 a.m. for about eight hours and remained unstable by the time of the writing.
Apart from widespread inconvenience, many people also complained of experiencing extensive communication troubles with slow signals and internet disruptions.
Telecommunication services in the affected areas had gradually returned to normal as the electricity supply improved, Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara said.
“Some areas are still encountering problems, as the electricity supply has yet to totally recover,” he said.
State electricity firm PLN said that it would pay compensation to at least 21.3 million customers who were affected by the blackout. (vny/afr)
