HI fountain down due to cut cable

After keeping the whole affair silent for the last two weeks, the Jakarta administration claimed on Thursday that someone had tried to steal a power cable attached to the giant fountain at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, and that was why it was not operating.

Assistant to the City Secretary for Development Affairs IGKG Suena said that the alleged thieves, who have not been caught and there are no witnesses, had apparently tried to steal the main cable that connects the power generator and the fountain's main power board in a subterranean maintenance area.

The alleged perpetrators were inexplicably unsuccessful in their quest to take the cable, but did cut it and do enough damage for the fountain to fall silent.

Suena's assumption of thieves being at fault was based on the value of the power line. "The cable alone is priced at more than Rp 100 million (US$10,846)," he explained.

He added that he would soon report the case to the City Secretary, Ritola Tasmaya, so they could discuss where to get the money to replace the damaged cable.

But first, he said, the City Park Agency would have to find out the cost of a new cable from the officials at the state electricity company PLN.

The traffic circle is one of the capital's icons, and a favorite spot of demonstrations. The city administration spent Rp 14 billion to renovate it in 2002 and construct the lavish water fountain.

The beautification project was financed fully by private sponsors, but caused a brief controversy because it was still listed as a budget item in the City budget.

Critics also blasted the administration for putting more attention to beautification projects over projects of greater impact to the public, like flood mitigation or poverty alleviation. --JP