11,886 public phones damaged by vandals: Official<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): About one-third, or nearly 12,000, of all coin-
\noperated pay phones in the capital and its surrounding areas are
\nvandalized each month, an official with PT Telekomunikasi
\nIndonesia (Telkom)'s Greater Jakarta office revealed on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The head of the office's public relation department, Thomik
\nArmawan, said the latest data from May showed 11,886 of the
\n32,036 coin-operated public telephones installed by Telkom
\nthroughout Jakarta, Tangerang and Bekasi were out of order due to
\nvandalism.<\/p>\n
\"The public is still not concerned (about the care and
\nexistence of pay phones) which were installed for public use,\"
\nThomik told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Telkom officials said the vandalism of public pay phones
\nincluded damage caused by efforts to pry open the cash boxes
\nplaced inside the phones, the insertion of objects into the coin
\nslots, the stealing of the phone booths and the theft of the
\nphones' handsets.<\/p>\n
He did not disclose the estimated cost for maintaining the
\npublic phones, but said his office rarely earned a profit from
\nthe phones. Such acts of vandalism, he added, had taken place for
\nyears and seemed unlikely to end.<\/p>\n
The acting head of the public telephone division at Telkom's
\nSouth Jakarta office, Nursalam, said the high frequency of
\nvandalism of public pay phones in his area had forced his office
\nto reduce the number of telephones it installed.<\/p>\n
\"We temporarily have had to reduce the (number of telephone)
\nunits because the cost of spare parts is expensive,\" Nursalam
\nsaid via phone.<\/p>\n
Currently, the South Jakarta Telkom office operates 4,476 pay
\nphones, slightly fewer than the 5,000 units it operated last
\nyear, he said.<\/p>\n
A public relations official at Telkom's East Jakarta office,
\nIran A.R., claimed his area suffered the highest rate of
\nvandalism in the capital.<\/p>\n
\"In South Jakarta and West Jakarta the rate of vandalism is
\nnot that high, but in East Jakarta, oh dear ... ,\" Iran sighed.<\/p>\n
He could not give an exact figure, but said that every time
\nhis office fixed one damaged pay phone it found eight more
\nvandalized.<\/p>\n
Iran argued that the high rate of vandalism in East Jakarta
\nwas due to the vast slums located in the area.<\/p>\n
An official at Telkom's West Jakarta office said he had
\nproposed to his colleagues at Telkom's other offices in Greater
\nJakarta to stop repairing vandalized pay phones, instead
\ninstalling new pay phones in areas where vandalism was less
\nlikely to occur.<\/p>\n
\"That will make (the vandals) learn their lesson,\" said the
\nofficial, who asked not be named.<\/p>\n
He said his staff responsible for repairing the damaged units
\nhad nearly given up because of what they saw as the futility of
\ntheir efforts. \"I have to give my men some encouragement to do
\n(the telephone maintenance), which they have to do over and over
\nagain.\"<\/p>\n
In the first six months of this year, the West Jakarta Telkom
\noffice has found 11 telephone units and 65 cash boxes stolen, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
But Thomik stated Telkom would not stop providing adequate
\nfacilities for the public. \"We are committed to repairing (the
\nbroken units), in accordance with our motto 'customers first,'\"
\nThomik said.<\/p>\n
He added that so far in July, Telkom staff in Jakarta and its
\nsurrounding areas had repaired 10,201 broken pay phones, with
\nsome 1,685 additional units scheduled for repair.<\/p>\n
\"The availability is 94.86 percent of single-coin pay
\ntelephones and 94.73 percent for the multicoin pay phones,\"
\nThomik said, adding that single-coin telephones use Rp 100 coins,
\nwhile multicoin pay phones accept almost all coins.<\/p>\n
\"The existence of public telephones is still very much needed
\ndespite the (increasing) use of cellular phones and the
\nmushrooming telecommunications kiosks,\" Thomik said.<\/p>\n
However, people who wish to use a pay phone are frequently
\nfrustrated in their efforts to find one in working order. (08)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/11886-public-phones-damaged-by-vandals-official-1447893297",
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