Banjarmasin: A City “Where Darkness Is Common”

And the lights out!

Yup! That’s what I experienced during my three-month time here in the capital city of South Kalimantan Province.  It is too bad and very ironic to admit since this island is full of energy resources on the ground and (more resources) underground.  The scheduled blackouts have become part of people’s daily life here. In the city area, the scheduled begin at around six in the evening. Could it be a moment, one hour or more is something we can never predict.

Just so you know that electricity industry is run by state owned company named PLN (Perusahaan Listrik Negara), and that’s it. Various fees the people have to pay, depends on the area they’re living in and the type of electricity they use, either for household or industrial purpose. Now, is it really worthy for us to pay them for the service we get?

A signage stating apology for the scheduled lights out by PLN

Electricity as the basic need for society

The issue of energy crisis becomes highlight in some regions in Indonesia, even the government in Jakarta admitted that factors such as regulations and multi-layers complicated permission procedures has become issues for investments including in electricity industry that eventually constraint  the even electricity distribution for all. What they often neglect is the fact that electricity is something people can’t live without, it’s a basic need.

When the government issued a plan to increase the fuel or electricity price, people seemed like nearly at the point of no alternative, especially regarding the latter as it’s just monopolized. Thus, like it or not they will pay for it like no matter what, because it’s basic and monopolized. I’m sorry to say that the government failed in this case. 

The excuse they’ve been (PLN) saying is they’re so lack of energy resources that they have to make the scheduled daily blackouts. It’s a bit confusing as this land is rich of coal, unless the commercialized natural resources is something they cannot afford and yeah, we understand. That this coal-rich province is getting as dark as its coal, we understand. But still, should we make any complain or even big street-protest, if we question whether or not they’re capable to run it and should we let private company in, it’s understandable. Moreover, we are so far familiar with privatization. We keep buying mineral water by Danone as we know it’s good, we use Indosat and other telecommunication products as it is good, and affordable, even cheap.

What if…

Can you imagine the small little things that will turn out big in our daily life that make us consider that it’s a big issue?

• For students in their house they should do homework under minimum light and it sooner or later affect their vision’s health.
• Let’s say the hospital has its own generator, but still, what if they need more electricity for a bigger surgery? What if there is more patients need medical treatment? What if the devices do not work due to technical issues related to the electricity problem?
• For other industries, such as hotels and manufactures, when they have to have their own generators for energy supply, and they have to pay the fuels, the rocket their budget will be, they know it’s costly. How to attract investors if they have to pay a lot?

These are the things the government and all of us should consider. We do not mind of private sectors get involved, though expansion and innovation and management reform in PLN itself is good to see as well.