Half a sewer spells trouble

BEKASI: Residents of Jatimakmur in Pondok Gede district, Bekasi, complained on Friday about the construction of a drainage system along Jl. Raya Jatimakmur that had remained half completed for three years.

"We heard that the developer absconded with part of the money ... but the unfinished project has caused more trouble," a resident, Rifai, 40, was quoted as saying by Antara.

Only two kilometers of the planned four-kilometer sewer has been completed. As a consequence, the area where the sewer ends -- the Raflesia and Bank of Tokyo housing complexes and state elementary school SD Jatimakmur I -- are always inundated after heavy rain.

Bekasi Mayor Akhmad Zurfaih said he would ask relevant officials to check the matter. "If it's true then we'll have to resume the project as soon as possible," he said. -- JP