Firecracker-makers face death, as well as helpful police<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang<\/p>\n
In a small house in the village of Karangtengah in Pademangan
\nsubdistrict, Tangerang, three teenagers sat with their agile
\nfingers busily filling a small carton tube with gunpowder, some
\nof which dripped onto the floor.<\/p>\n
Beside them lay a six kilogram sack of gunpowder, ready to
\nexplode with just a spark.<\/p>\n
They worked after school until 9 p.m. After three months of
\nwork prior to the fasting month of Ramadhan, each boy was able to
\nproduce up to 100,000 packs of 100 petasan korek or match
\nfirecrackers, the smallest of its kind.<\/p>\n
In another home in the village, teenagers were working on
\nlarger firecrackers. The largest sort could blow one of their
\nhouses into pieces.<\/p>\n
The firecrackers are then sold in various places in the
\ncapital and its surrounding areas. Each pack of 100 petasan korek
\nnormally sells for Rp 500 (5 U.S. cents).<\/p>\n
Pademangan and Legok have become the center of the illegal
\nhome firecracker industry, where death has become a constant
\ncompanion.<\/p>\n
Two deaths have been reported this year, and every year
\nfirecracker producers have to pay for their dangerous work with
\ntheir lives.<\/p>\n
Yet people in the two subdistricts are phlegmatic about the
\ncasualties, and business operates as usual.<\/p>\n
Located some 35 kilometers southwest of Jakarta, Pademangan
\nsubdistrict has 12 villages and Legok has another 12 villages,
\nall producing firecrackers.<\/p>\n
Karangtengah village is the most notorious, producing a huge
\nnumber of firecrackers.<\/p>\n
All the houses along the village's small road have cabins for
\nproducing firecrackers, with recently completed products being
\ndried under the sun.<\/p>\n
Smoking is definitely forbidden around the cabins as they are
\nfull of gunpowder and other flammable materials, some of which
\nhave leaked onto the ground.<\/p>\n
As the business is illegal, villagers are always wary of
\nstrangers. When a reporter from The Jakarta Post arrived in the
\nvillage to observe their work, the villagers all watched him
\nclosely.<\/p>\n
One of the firecracker makers, Wahab, 57, said that the
\nvillagers hated reporters because the press could ruin their
\nillegal business.<\/p>\n
Moch Wirta HS, 36, known by the name of Bang Ciing, a
\nprominent figure in Karangtengah village, or more precisely a
\nlocal fighter, said that the villagers had conducted the illegal
\nbusiness for generations.<\/p>\n
He said that his grandfather had also been involved in making
\nfirecrackers long before Bang Ciing was born.<\/p>\n
He added that the villagers could endure the danger. They had
\nbeen involved in the business for a long time, and firecrackers
\nhad become part of their everyday life and culture.<\/p>\n
\"The death toll can not prevent us from making firecrackers.
\nEvery year there are always deaths among the villagers due to
\nexplosions of gunpowder.<\/p>\n
\"This year, so far, two men have died in my neighboring
\nvillage of Pabuaran and Jatake, Pedemangan subdistrict. But we
\nstill continue making firecrackers,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He explained that the villagers had no choice but to produce
\nfirecrackers because they had no other jobs.<\/p>\n
Although some young people in Karangtengah worked for a local
\nplantation, they were still lured to work in the firecracker
\nbusiness because it promised better returns.<\/p>\n
Bang Ciing said he himself also acted as a firecracker and
\ngunpowder agent for the villagers. He sells their products and
\nbuys what they need to make the firecrackers.<\/p>\n
As an agent, he said he had spent almost Rp 20 million (some
\nUS$2000) this year.<\/p>\n
There are basically two types of firecracker makers: permanent
\nand seasonal producers.<\/p>\n
The permanent makers produce firecrackers based on orders,
\nusually for festivals or celebrations, while the seasonal makers
\nrun their businesses over the three months prior to and during
\nRamadhan, when demand for firecrackers reaches its peak.<\/p>\n
Tanti, 20, a housewife in Karangtengah village, is a seasonal
\nmaker. Together with her two children, she begins producing
\nfirecrackers three months before Ramadan. She has been in the
\nbusiness for the past three years.<\/p>\n
Each day she and her children could produce 10,000 packs of
\npetasan korek from a six kilogram sack of gunpowder.<\/p>\n
She added that she was able to buy the gunpowder easily from
\nvendors along the Parung Panjang-Legok main road.<\/p>\n
As a seasonal producer, Tanti has no special cabin in her home
\nto produce firecrackers. Her home's dining room, measuring some
\n16 square meters, is filled with firecrackers wrapped in noodle
\ncartons and brown wrapping papers.<\/p>\n
\"Normally I invest Rp 2 million (US$200) in this seasonal
\nbusiness. Then, in one month, especially in Ramadhan, I can make
\nRp 5 million (US$500). Still, not all of my products are sold
\nyet. So, you see, the return is more than 100 percent,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Tanti added that all her neighbors also ran similar
\nbusinesses.<\/p>\n
As for permanent firecracker producers, their work goes on
\nyear round, not only during the Muslim fasting month.<\/p>\n
They work to meet orders from agents, usually for certain
\ntypes of firecrackers. The agents are mostly located along the
\nParung Panjang-Legok main road.<\/p>\n
Sidiq, 46, who has been involved in the business for more than
\nsix years as a permanent firecracker maker, admitted that he only
\ntook orders as he had no capital to finance his own workshop.<\/p>\n
Currently he had an order to produce one million packs of
\npetasan korek for an agent, whom he refused to disclose.<\/p>\n
Public officers from the Legok and Pademangan subdistrict seem
\nto be deliberately turning a blind eye toward the illegal
\nfirecracker industry that exists in their area.<\/p>\n
They are even believed to be involved in nurturing the
\nindustry and colluding with the makers.<\/p>\n
Tanti said that her village never received any warnings from
\nthe authorities in the subdistrict.<\/p>\n
She even said that recently the police from the Legok
\nsubdistrict police station had come to her village to ask for a
\nlevy of Rp 1,000 and firecrackers or Rp 2,000 per house.<\/p>\n
No officials would comment on the illegal business in the
\narea.<\/p>\n
Legok subdistrict police chief First Insp. Syafrudin also
\nrefused to make any comment.<\/p>\n
\"Don't ask me, I have no authority to give information to
\nreporters,\" he said.<\/p>\n
No public officers in the subdistrict office provided any
\ninformation, and even the chief of Legok subdistrict, Hidayat,
\nwas not available.<\/p>\n
\"I forget his phone number sir. No employee in this office
\nknows Mr. Hidayat's number,\" said one of the employees at the
\nsubdistrict office.<\/p>\n
When asked about possible raids by the authorities, Bang
\nCiing, with a cynical smile, said: \"The police have no courage to
\nraid us. They even come to us for free firecrackers if they are
\ngoing to hold a celebration.\"<\/p>",
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