Waste burning blamed for phone cuts

Waste burning blamed for phone cuts

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: Thousands of telephone lines in Kupang were out of order on Thursday with telecommunications officials there blaming it on trash burning by local people.

The damage affected most telephone subscribers living across the city, particularly in the areas located along Jl. Suharto, Jambu, Flamboyan, Teratai and Naikoten.

Supanya, commercial division head of the Kupang telecommunications office, said the trouble followed the damage to primary wires consisting of 2,600 units of telephone lines.

The lines were broken after being burnt as local residents in the Eltari and Jl Suharto areas burned waste there, said Eva Widiarni, secretary of the Kupang telecommunications office.

She said the trouble was detected at 10 a.m. by her office following reports from local people.

However, the telecommunication cut allegedly started at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, when the residents in question began to burn their waste.

Eva said repair work was underway. --Antara