The South Jakarta Bina Marga Sub-agency has repaired the public street lighting (PJU) network on Jalan Teuku Nyak Arief, Grogol Utara, Kebayoran Lama, following disruptions caused by acts of vandalism.

South Jakarta Bina Marga Sub-agency Head, Rismal stated that the vandalism resulted in several severed power lines, which impaired the functionality of the street lighting system.

"Due to the cut wiring, 25 streetlights were rendered inoperative and failed to function properly," he remarked, Wednesday (6/10).

He clarified that the restoration efforts involved coordination with various stakeholders, as the lighting infrastructure is situated within a greenbelt abutting the Transjakarta corridor. Hence, the sub-agency first secured a work permit to prevent any interference with the public transit service.

"Upon securing the necessary work permit from Transjakarta, the PJU team from the Bina Marga Sub-agency promptly initiated phased restoration of the network on-site," he clarified.

He noted that as of now, repairs have been finalized on six inter-pole spans. As a result, 14 streetlights that were previously dark are now functional again.

"Beyond the logistical challenge of working near the Transjakarta corridor, personnel also encountered obstacles from trees intersecting the power lines," he continued.

Coordination has also been established with the South Jakarta Parks and City Forests Sub-agency to perform tree trimming.

"We suspect that the perpetrators leveraged the trees to climb, given that the cables are located at a considerable height," he noted.

He ensured that the field personnel are working at peak performance so that all impacted lights can be relit in the near future.

"Our aim is to have all currently non-functional streetlights back in operation by the end of this week," he noted.

He called on the public to participate in maintaining the public facilities built by the government for the common good.

"Let us collectively safeguard the existing public facilities. Refrain from acts of vandalism and report any damage to public infrastructure immediately," he emphasized.