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)