No money to fix streetlights: Official

TANGERANG (JP): Half of the 1,400 streetlights in the Tangerang mayoralty are out-of-order due to a lack of maintenance funds, an officer said.

The head of the mayoralty's gardens and funeral agency, Muhaimin, said that one public facility had been in poor condition for at least two years.

Despite an annual budget allocation of Rp 5 billion (US$1.37 million) for the installation and maintenance of streetlights the agency "only receives Rp 2 billion annually", Muhaimin said.

"From the smaller allocation, Rp 1.2 billion is used for electricity bills and the remaining Rp 800 million for maintenance and installation."

Muhaimin said the shortfall in the budget allocation for streetlights had been attributed to the mayoralty's need to finance other public facilities, such as the cleaning service.

The remaining Rp 3 billion of the streetlights allocation had been redirected, he said.

But the lack of streetlights had prompted local residents to fix the bulbs and wiring themselves, sometimes placing their own lives in danger.

In many cases, the residents collect money, purchase high-watt bulbs and fit them to the existing lamp posts with inferior wiring, which has been known to spark fires. (41/bsr)