180 schools to be repaired

TANGERANG: The local administration plans to repair 180 elementary schools this year with the help of developers from the Indonesian Construction Business Association.

"If the administration relied solely on its annual budget, the renovation work would only begin in 2006 and the schools cannot wait that long," Tangerang Mayor Wahidin Halim said on Tuesday.

He said the work, which will begin in June, will cost between Rp 150 billion (US$17.65 million) and Rp 200 billion.

The administration has allocated more than Rp 200 billion, or 43 percent of its 2004 budget, for education. Most of that money will go toward repairing 350 school buildings.

The roofs of at least two schools in Tangerang have collapsed in recent months due to age and neglect. -- JP