Vandalized phones hurt Tangerang economy

Vandalized phones hurt Tangerang economy

TANGERANG (JP): Residents of the Tangerang district are
complaining over the many public telephones in the city being
vandalized.

The residents said over the weekend that the state-owned
telecommunications company PT Telkom's neglect in fixing the
broken telephones is affecting their business activities.

"I am often forced to waste a lot of my time searching for a
public telephone that works," said Yanto, a resident in the
Pabuaran sub-district.

Yanto said the telephones installed at the Pabuaran sub-
district office have been broken for over two months.

Residents have to go to Jl. Otista, Jl. Merdeka or Jl. Raya
Mauk in Tangerang, which are located quite far from their area,
just to make a telephone call, he said.

Sanusi, a resident of Jl. Baya Raya in the national housing
complex, said the phones in his area are all broken, "So I have
to phone from the market office, where I have to stand in line
for quite a while to be able to use the phone."

Similar complaints came from residents in the Geremdeng sub-
district. They grumbled that all the public telephones at their
sub-district office on Jl. Dadang Suprapto, and in front of the
Bumiyamka Cinema, are not working.

The public telephones at the Husada Insani Hospital, Bharata
Radio Station and Alam Indah Housing Complex are also broken.

Because of the many vandalized telephones, residents are
forced to join long lines in order to use the working phones in
the regency.

PT Telkom technicians have been deployed to repair the public
telephones in the city. "Repairs are carried out every day," they
said.

PT Telkom urges the public to help safeguard the telephones
against vandals who damage the telephones or write graffiti all
over the equipment.

Residents of the densely-populated areas in the regency are
also complaining about the limited availability of public
telephones. (13/22)