Cables vandalised: Official

By GLORIA BAUAI
MASS vandalism of telephone cables in the past three months in Lae cut off communication to hundreds of businesses and city residents, an official says.
Telikom PNG Lae’s acting regional manager Philip Ruambi said since October, opportunists had vandalised 10 different sites, incurring more than K1million in cost to the state-owned telecommunication service-provider.
Ruambi said the sites included Chinatown, Hillside Avenue and Voco Point, the old airport, 7th Street, Cassowary Road, Sandpiper Road, Ampo, Paradise Foods, Digicel tower and Malahang.
“From mid-October to December, the cost incurred as a result of cable vandalism at these sites was K1,603,695 and we are very concerned that this is escalating daily,” Ruambi said.
“All the primary and distribution cables were cut leaving absolutely no communication.
“Malahang and the industrial area is currently in a communication blackout.
“Our team restored 7th Street and Eagle Street last week so customers along that area will have their services back.
“Restoration work is in progress at Chinatown while other sites are pending.”
Ruambi said the Lae office was also running short of cables.
“Whatever we have at the moment is being utilised and once we run out, we will be waiting for supply from Port Moresby.”
Ruambi said vandalism over the years had seen Telikom spending more time, effort and money on restoration instead of providing new services for clients.
“An example is the delay to roll-out fiber optic cables to replace existing copper cables which are more prone to vandalism,” he said.
He appealed to Lae residents to look after the telecommunication infrastructure installed for the benefit of the business houses, homes and for personal use.
“These cables, both the fiber and copper are carrying voice, data and internet traffic: once you cut it off, business houses suffer and their revenue is also affected.”