Kebon Kembang traders upset after recent fire<\/p>\n
By Maria Andi<\/p>\n
BOGOR, West Java (JP): Six thousand kiosk owners have been
\nleft to ponder their futures in the wake of a fire which razed to
\nthe ground their shops in the Kebon Kembang market building and
\nofficially claimed 10 lives.<\/p>\n
Twenty-two people have been questioned in connection with the
\nfire, the cause of which is still uncertain.<\/p>\n
The traders told The Jakarta Post yesterday that they have
\nroutinely been fooled by the authorities every time their shops
\nhave been destroyed by fire in the past.<\/p>\n
\"Every time after a fire the authorities had the market
\nstructure rebuilt, not renovated. Traders then had to buy new
\nshops or quit,\" said Atun, one of the frustrated kiosk owners.
\n\"We would have spent less on the new kiosks if the building had
\nonly been repaired, not totally rebuilt.\"<\/p>\n
According to the traders, the market, called Pasar Anyar
\nbefore it was rebuilt in 1989, was destroyed by fires in 1956,
\n1976 and 1986.<\/p>\n
Their kiosks, which were burned down last Thursday, were
\nbought from a private developer PT Braja Mustika, which built the
\nmarket after the 1986 fire.<\/p>\n
They said that officials would not confirm if the market would
\nbe rebuilt or renovated, which developers tend to opt for if the
\nbuilding has not suffered too much technical and structural
\ndamage.<\/p>\n
The Bogor administration built the new market building after a
\nfire in 1986. The three-story market, called Kebon Kembang, was
\nburned last Thursday. The fire is believed to have started in the
\nBlok B area of shops, one of the five blocks the Ramayana
\ndepartment store occupies, on the top floor.<\/p>\n
Rizaldi, whose kiosk is located in the basement with the other
\nvegetable sellers, said Thursday that the fire burned all of his
\nmerchandise worth Rp 60 million. \"We had just paid five years
\nworth of monthly installments at Rp 400,000 each before the
\ninferno.\"<\/p>\n
\"That's enough for us. It's now time for us to speak up after
\nthe authorities have been turning a deaf ear to our complaints
\nfor years,\" said another trader, Samun, who is typical of the
\nkiosk owners with an average of five million rupiah worth of
\nmerchandise.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of vegetable sellers and small-time traders from the
\nmarket plan to stage an official protest today.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, although the search for more fire victims was
\nofficially ended by Bogor Mayor Eddy Gunardi on Saturday, members
\nof the rescue team, ambulances and fire engines were still
\nroaming around the fire site yesterday.<\/p>\n
A small fire was still smoldering on the second floor
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
Rescue team members would not confirm if they were seeking
\nmore victims. They brushed away reporters who were dissatisfied
\nwith the official death toll stated by the mayor, who announced
\nlast Saturday that only 10 people, all Ramayana department store
\nemployees, were killed in the fire.<\/p>\n
Earlier reports in the media stated that at least 76 people
\nhad been trapped to death in the burning building last Thursday.<\/p>\n
\"We are ready to search for more victims on the ground and on
\nthe second floor. But we are waiting for further instructions,\" a
\nrescue team member, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Post<\/p>\n
The Red Cross Hospital morgue was quiet yesterday. The door
\nwas locked and there were no people looking for the bodies of
\nrelatives.<\/p>\n
Ramayana's Regional Manager Imam Prastono said that he had
\nreceived an official memo from the hospital, which stated that 76
\nbags had been sent to the hospital; 10 contained human bodies
\nwhile the remaining 66 reportedly contained coal and other
\nmaterials.<\/p>\n
Bogor police say they have conducted a thorough check of the
\nnumber of Ramayana's employees working the day of the fire to
\ndetermine the number of missing employees. Only 10 are said to be
\nmissing, according to officials.<\/p>\n
Safety systems -- Page 3<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kebon-kembang-traders-upset-after-recent-fire-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }