Telkom suffers $4.3m loss

Telkom suffers $4.3m loss

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly-listed PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) suffered losses of almost Rp 16 billion (US$4.3 million) in line damages in the city last year.

Bambang Riadhy Demar, head of Telkom's division two, the areas of which cover Jakarta and West Java, said yesterday that the damages were mainly caused by infrastructure work, such as the building of overpasses, underpasses and toll roads.

He noted that the damages caused by government projects reached Rp 6 billion, and those caused by private projects stood at Rp 9.9 billion.

"Government institutions just never paid us any compensation for the damages," Bambang said. "And we could not force them to pay because of a number of constraints in their budgets."

He explained that almost all private companies which damaged telephone infrastructure paid compensation to Telkom, but most of the payments were below Telkom's claim value.

"What cost us more was the maintenance of the repaired lines. You know, repaired lines are always not as strong as the original ones," Bambang said. (rid)