Indonesia president says power company should have been able to prevent blackout

[JAKARTA] Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Monday the state power company should have had contingency plans in place to prevent a major electricity blackout that affected the capital Jakarta and neighbouring provinces.

"Management as big as PLN should have had a risk management, back up plan, a contingency plan," Mr Widodo told reporters during a visit to the headquarters of PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) after Sunday's power outage that affected areas home to more than 100 million people.

Sripeni Inten Cahyani, PLN's acting CEO, said the company is still conducting recovery operations and warned there would be rolling blackouts until power is fully restored in Jakarta and surrounding areas.

REUTERS