Cellphone banned in N. Maluku

Cellphone banned in N. Maluku

TERNATE: North Maluku Governor Muhyi Effendie, who is also the state of civil emergency administrator, has banned the construction of cellular phone infrastructure in his sectarian war-torn province, arguing it could disrupt ongoing efforts at achieving reconciliation.

"The plan to operate cellular phones in the province's capital, Ternate, has been halted following the ban imposed by the civil emergency authority," said M. Rizal, director of locally based private telecommunications company PT Lima Waktu.

He said the company would have to respect the ban although it had around 3,300 prospective subscribers.

Rizal said the company had been scheduled to open a cellphone service in North Maluku last November.

Local legislator Zainuddin Umasangaji criticized the ban, saying the state of civil emergency should not necessarily be taken to mean "curbing the activities of private businesses to invest in this region". --Antara