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JAKARTA, INDONESIA - KITE-FLYING children are endangering planes landing at Jakarta's international airport, but authorities must give them parks to play in rather than threaten them with fines, a report said.
Authorities at the Soekarno-Hatta airport have reportedly seized more than 400 kites from children around the airport in a fresh bid to crack down on the threat during the school holidays, The Jakarta Post said in an editorial on Saturday.
Financial compensation has also been offered but this has only encouraged children to launch more kites, it said. Running out of ideas, authorities have even promised free Koran-readings for children to ground their aircraft.
As a last resort, the young kite flyers could be slapped with fines of around US$1,700 (S$2,300) or six months' jail.
'It must have been a sad day for kite lovers - mostly children - when airport officials seized hundreds of their kites,' the newspaper said.
'Many residents around the airport live below the poverty line... They see no benefit from living near the airport.'
It said the only way to ensure flight safety while allowing children to play in the outdoors was to build more parks, something teeming, traffic-choked Jakarta sorely lacks.
'Banning the kite flyers will be ineffective until local residents get a more comprehensive solution in which the airport provides them with some practical benefit,' The Post said.
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