Euro blamed for low productivity

BANDA ACEH, Aceh: Many civil servants in the war-ravaged province of Aceh have been turning up very late for work during the Euro 2004 soccer tournament held in Portugal, and public services have suffered.

Between 8 a.m and 10 a.m, for the past two weeks, government offices have been almost empty, and if someone has been there, they appeared too tired to serve the public. Like most other Indonesians, Acehnese are very fond of soccer.

Euro 2004 games are screened live nightly by RCTI, but most of games end well after midnight local time and the exciting penalty shootouts in the past five days have ended at around 4:30 a.m. local time. -- Antara