Tangerang Legislative Council 'in the dark'

TANGERANG (JP): State electricity company PLN has cut its supply to the mayoralty's Legislative Council building due to a Rp 13 million (US$1,733) unpaid bill for the last eight months.

Council activities have been severely affected. Most rooms are blacked out and electrically operated office equipment is at a standstill.

Employees have been forced to use manual typewriters to complete urgent documents.

The blackout began on Dec. 9, but no resolution to the problem appears imminent.

"Actually, employees of the council's secretariat already knew PLN's plan to cut its electricity supply due to the unpaid bills. But we just did nothing as it is the duty of the secretary of the council or the secretariat's head," Efendy, one of the employees, said on Monday.

He said the power cut also affected the civilian defense regional headquarters and the Tangerang office of the Ministry of Education and Culture, also located in the council's building.

"The blackout also hit the other two offices whose electricity was also linked to the council's connection," Efendy said.

Gusti Rustam, a member of the City Council, deplored the loss of power and accused officials of being delinquent in their duties.

He also suspected there was malfeasance in the disbursement of the allocation of funds for the maintenance of the council's building, especially for electricity, telephone and tap water bills.

"This is very embarrassing. Is this what caused the funds to already run out? How can this be because the 1998/1999 budget will only end in April?" he said, urging an urgent settlement on the matter.

Agus Sugiono, head of the mayoralty's finance department, concurred with Gusti's statement. He said the Tangerang mayoralty set aside Rp 25 million annually to cover electricity, telephone and tap water bills of the council.

"So far there have not been any reports on whether the funds were sufficient or not," he said.

"If the fund is insufficient, the council's secretary can make a proposal for an additional fund."

Said Endrawijanto, the mayoralty's spokesman, declined to comment on the matter. (41/hhr)