Thief steals pollution recorder

JAKARTA (JP): A thief has stolen an air pollution recorder worth Rp 10 million (US$4,225) from under Jl. Merdeka Selatan, Central Jakarta, near the City Hall.

The head of the City Environment Bureau, Aboejoewono Aboeprajitno said he learned of the theft from one of his subordinates Wednesday.

"My subordinate discovered that the device was missing on Monday morning," Aboejoewono said.

He said that the device is part of a grant from the Japanese government to the office of the minister of environment.

He added that based on his subordinate's report, it was the second theft of such a device in the past six months. He gave no further details.

A source at the Central Jakarta Police precinct said the theft probably occurred on Saturday.

"The thief must have known that the device is expensive," he said.

He said a security guard who regularly controls the device did not check it because of a torrential downpour on Saturday.

Aboejoewono said there are 11 air monitoring devices in the city, but only four have air pollution recorders. (jun)