"This pertains to not only electricity service but also for all other public services, such as those related to water and airport. If there is a failure, the people must be compensated, and the person in charge of providing the service must face theJakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) encouraged filing a class-action lawsuit against energy and mineral resources and state-owned enterprises ministries over PT PLN’s malfunctioning power plants causing 7-12-hour outage in Jakarta, West Java, and Banten, on Aug 4 and 5.
"This kind of massive power outage cannot be tolerated since it has been detrimental to society, with enormous value. The community, as consumers, must file a class-action lawsuit," YLKI Chairman Tulus Abadi stated here on Monday.
Related news: PLN apologize for blackout in Greater Jakarta
Abadi believes that the lawsuit can be filed against the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, as the technical ministry related to electricity and also against the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises, as the governmental shareholder in state electricity company PT PLN.
He further argued that people can compute the material and non-material losses as a basis for filing the lawsuit.
"If there is no massive lawsuit, I am certain that severe lack of electricity services, such as this, will most likely recur. Courage must be mustered to criticize and make the public company face the consequences of giving bad services that are detrimental to the people," Abadi remarked.
Moreover, he pointed out that the massive power outage is also a sign of PLN's inadequate infrastructure.
Hence, he advised the government to not only increase the capacity of PLN generators but also boost its reliability and improve other supporting infrastructure, such as electricity transmissions, substations, and distribution substations.
"This could directly affect the flow of investment into Jakarta and also in Indonesia. If such massive power outage can occur in the capital city of Jakarta, how about outside Jakarta?" he stressed.
Abadi noted that the government should draw reference from similar cases in other countries in dealing with the concerned parties over any incapability in delivering vital public service.
In Japan, the energy minister had bowed for 15 minutes as an apology for the failure to provide services to the public. In Australia, in 2010, the electricity went out for a mere thirty minutes, for which consumers were compensated through free bills for a month.
"This pertains to not only electricity service but also for all other public services, such as those related to water and airport. If there is a failure, the people must be compensated, and the person in charge of providing the service must face the consequences," he added. Related news: President discusses power supply recovery efforts
Related news: PLN gradually recovers electricity supply
EDITED BY INE
Translator: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
