JP\/6\/Fire\/0<\/p>\n
Still no answers in suspicious factory blaze<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The National Police Headquarters is still in the
\ndark over the exact cause of a huge fire which destroyed a
\ntelevision factory in Tangerang late last month due to a lack of
\nmaterial evidence.<\/p>\n
\"We need more time to determine the cause of the blaze,\" Maj.
\nEddy T.G., who leads a team from the National Police forensic
\nlaboratory, told The Jakarta Post yesterday. \"We've come to the
\nscene four times and collected as much material evidence as we
\ncould, but so far we haven't found anything which would determine
\nthe cause of the blaze at the firm.\"<\/p>\n
While police are still in the dark about the fire that razed
\nthe 14,000-square-meter PT Textronic Electronics Permai (TPE)
\nfactory complex in Tangerang on March 25, others have put forth
\ntheir own conclusions.<\/p>\n
Employees at the factory who wished to remain anonymous, have
\nsaid that the fire is a textbook case of insurance fraud arson.<\/p>\n
In a written report to the executives of the company, security
\nguards of the factory said that a group of people tried
\nunsuccessfully to burn the plant on March 20 -- five days before
\nthe actual fire occurred and that they reported the situation to
\nmanagement at that point. Management's response to incident was
\nto do nothing.<\/p>\n
Security reports also said that on March 11 a group, led by
\nGrundig employee Eddy Yuli, came to the factory with nine trucks
\nto remove nearly 1000 television sets without the proper
\ndocumentation.<\/p>\n
The factory was the only production center of the publicly-
\nlisted firm, which produced and assembled television sets and
\nelectronic goods bearing brand names such as Grundig, Paladium,
\nOkano and SEG.<\/p>\n
Although no fatalities were reported, the three-hour-long
\nblaze, which started around 4 a.m. on Friday of March 25
\ndestroyed many machines in the factory.<\/p>\n
\"There were many high-tech machines inside the plant which
\ncost millions of rupiahs each,\" said Tony Demos, the company's
\nmanager for personnel and general affairs. He gave no indication
\nif the 'machines' inside the plant was assembly equipment or if
\nsome of the factory's inventory had been replaced.<\/p>\n
He did ad that the incident has been reported to the Capital
\nMarket Supervisory Agency (Bapepam).<\/p>\n
The company's share price on the Jakarta Stock Exchange
\nFriday, the last of the weekly trading, remained unchanged at Rp
\n3,700 (US$1.73), although no transactions have been recorded
\nsince the incident.<\/p>\n
The company is a subsidiary of the Asia Permai Group, a widely
\ndiversified business group formerly owned by business tycoon H.
\nMohamad Amid, who reportedly has sold the plant to PT Gading
\nMandala Utama, a subsidiary of the widely-diversified Humpuss
\ngroup.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, executives of PT Grundig International Indonesia
\n(GII), which had its products assembled at the factory of PT
\nTextronic Electronics Permai, said that their firm will set up
\ntheir own factory later this year. (bsr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp6fire0-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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