Surjadi renews lights call

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja reiterated his call yesterday for the managers of high-rise buildings to install decorative lamps as a contribution to the celebration of the city's 468th anniversary and the nation's 50th Independence Day.

Surjadi acknowledged that the city administration's request, made last week, had passed largely ignored.

"I see that there has been no positive reaction to the city's appeal that decorative lamps be installed on high-rise buildings," Surjadi told reporters.

The lamps would not cause much of a burden to the managements of skyscrapers, he said, because PLN, the state-owned electricity company, has offered special rates for the decorative lamps installed on the outsides of the buildings.

Surjadi said that PLN had decided to charge only one third of the usual price for electricity consumed by the colored lamps, adding that the city administration appreciated the policy. Asked how PLN could calculate the amount of electricity used by buildings for the decorative lights as opposed to other uses, Surjadi declined give details.

Last week, Deputy Governor for Economic and Development Affairs Tb. M. Rais urged the management or owners of high-rise buildings to participate in the city' festive lighting campaign.

Members of the city council have thrown their support behind the campaign, saying it would be unfair to require only ordinary residents to decorate their houses with colorful lights.

The councillors argued that, since the owners of high-rise buildings were generally affluent, it was reasonable for the city administration to ask them to take part in the campaign.

The city has also launched the "Beautiful Jakarta at Night" campaign, designed to keep Jakarta "alive" 24-hours-a-day.

"Jakarta is already beautiful during the day and it will be even more beautiful if the city looks alive at night," Rais said when launching the program. (yns)