Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang Thursday, July 03, 2008 City
The operator of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, PT Angkasa Pura II, has been forced to switch the usage if its runways every evening since June 30 due to the failure of a bylaw banning kite flying in the area.
Every day from 3:30 p.m. the airport uses the left runway for taking off and the right one for landing, for the safety of air transportation, an official said Wednesday.
The left runway is normally used only for landing while the right one is only for taking off.
"Hundreds of residents living near the runways still continue to ignore the ban on flying kites in the area," PT Angkasa Pura II spokesman Trisno Heryadi told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
He said the Tangerang municipal administration had passed the 2004 bylaw prohibiting residents from flying kites in areas within a radius of 9 kilometers of the airport following complaints lodged by pilots about the safety risk the toys posed.
Trisno said airport security had seized as many as 483 kites from residents between May 5 and June 30 (before kite flying season begins), but reports on Wednesday showed residents continue to fly kites.
"It's hard to imagine how many more residents of several subdistricts such as West Kedaung, Bayur, Kelor, East Kedaung and New Kedaung will fly kites near the runways after kite flying season starts this month," he said.
According to Trisno, kite flying around the runways seems to be done on purpose by residents although the airport operator has carried out social responsibility programs to help residents find alternatives to kite flying.
"The only way to solve the problem is to cooperate with the municipal public order agency, the police, district court and prosecutors. They should bring the violators to justice," he said.
"This is just a seasonal thing and kite flying is the only form of entertainment for residents here," Denny Setiawan, a resident of West Kedaung subdistrict, told Post.
Denny said residents would be upset if the airport operator enforced the ban without providing an alternative.
Muslim, another resident, said many residents were unaware of the ordinance, which carries a penalty of three months in jail or a Rp 3 million fine.
Endin, a community unit chief in Kelor subdistrict, said the ban had not been properly introduced in his area.
"We know that Angkasa Pura officers regularly come to this area to monitor residents flying kites but we just ignore them and they can do nothing to stop us," he said, adding that residents did not believe the kites disturbed flights or had any impact on landings and take-offs.
Residents usually start flying the kites around the airport at 3 p.m., peak-time at the airport.
Tangerang Mayor Wahidin Halim said he was aware the bylaw had not been effective and he promised to tell all district and subdistrict heads around the airport to disseminate information on the kite flying ban to residents.
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