Telephone sale postponed

The South Jakarta Telecommunications Office has stopped the sale activities of new telephone lines after its first-day campaign turned into a traffic snarl yesterday.

The office said in an announcement yesterday that the number of people who came to apply for new telephone connections at the sales office in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, was beyond expectation.

The Jakarta Post estimated that by 9:30 a.m. more than one thousand people had arrived, mostly by car, to queue up to apply. The crowd caused serious traffic congestion around the Lebak Bulus area.

Most people complained that they had been confused by the announcement concerning the system of distribution by the Telecommunication office.

Meanwhile the head of the Fourth Telecommunication Area, John Willy, whose jurisdiction includes Jakarta, announced yesterday that the sale activities were postponed until further notice.

Willy said he will announce the reopening and new method of applying at a later date. He said that only people whose residential area has been connected by telephone lines will be served.

Willy apologized to the public for the inconvenience caused. "We failed to foresee such a huge number of people who would come to apply for telephone connections," he said. (tis)