Police Hunt For Iron Thief Supporting PLN Sutet Tower In Kampar

Photo archive. Workers repair one of the electricity network towers connecting Timor Island which collapsed due to Cyclone Seroja in Tuanfeu Village, Kupang Regency, NTT, Tuesday (13/4/2021). ANTARA /Kornelis Kaha

KOMPAR - Police are still hunting for the iron thief supporting the PLN extra high voltage overhead line (sutet) tower in Kubang Jaya Village, Siak Hulu District, Kampar Regency, Riau.

"We are currently investigating. Please pray, hopefully we can catch the perpetrators," said Siak Hulu Sector Police Chief Commissioner Rusyandi Zuhri Siregar, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, July 5.

Through the investigation conducted by the police, he hopes that the thieves will be caught soon because apart from violating the law, their actions are also very disturbing.

The police have also investigated the crime scene (TKP) with the local PT PLN.

The theft is suspected to have occurred on Saturday (2/6) because that day it was discovered that the tower supporting the high-voltage network cable had collapsed and the electricity had gone out for several hours in the surrounding area.

As a result, the tower that supports the 70 megawatt (MW) power grid of the Gas Engine Power Plant (PLTMG) Balai Pungut Units 1-7 (trip) cannot supply electricity. This has caused power outages in a number of areas in Pekanbaru and Kampar.

After the iron supporting the Sutet tower was stolen, PLN moved quickly to build an emergency tower to temporarily replace the two paralyzed towers.

PLN Manager for Pekanbaru Transmission Implementing Unit (UPT) Aris Sofian Hidayat said that currently his party has overcome the tower problem.

"The initial step taken by PLN to overcome the tower problem is to immediately install two emergency towers so that electrical energy can immediately flow to the Riau Province electricity subsystem," he said.

The location of the tower in a swamp area is also a bit of an obstacle for the recovery team, especially in the mobilization of materials and equipment.

In the installation of the emergency tower, PLN UPT Pekanbaru sent a number of technical teams assisted by teams from various PLN Implementing Units spread across Sumatra.