Most govt buildings are fire hazards<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Most high-rise government buildings have no proper systems for
\nprotecting their records and important documents from fire, with
\nmost of them also being susceptible to fire mainly due to the
\nnegligence of building managers.<\/p>\n
"We have warned all managers of high-rise government buildings
\nhere to improve their fire safety systems so as to protect their
\ndocuments and records against fire, but they always make the
\nexcuse that their departments have yet to allocate any funds for
\nsuch systems," complained City Fire Chief Johnny Pangaribuan.<\/p>\n
Johnny also complained that many government officials simply
\nignored the danger of fire.<\/p>\n
"For instance, we have found that most of the sprinklers in
\nthese (government) offices are in poor condition due to lack of
\nmaintenance and obvious negligence regarding regularly checks,"
\nexplained Johnny.<\/p>\n
Important state documents, especially confidential ones,
\nJohnny said, were among the items that needed to be protected by
\nspecial safety equipment, for instance by providing automatic
\nsprinklers or fireproof safety cabinets.<\/p>\n
"There must be automatic safety equipment provided to protect
\nthe documents and data," Johnny said, adding that automatic
\ncircuit breakers were also desirable to cut off the electricity
\nif a short circuit occurred.<\/p>\n
According to Johnny, many government buildings, especially the
\nolder ones, were in dire need of more careful checks and
\nmaintenance due to aging equipment and fire safety systems.<\/p>\n
Johnny recalled that the extent of the recent fire that badly
\ndamaged the sixth floor of the finance ministry building and
\ndestroyed important data on state assets was not only the result
\nof arson as stated by the police, but also negligence.<\/p>\n
Johnny showed The Jakarta Post three official letters sent in
\nAugust last year to the finance ministry warning that the
\nbuilding management needed to improve most of the fire equipment
\nand fire protection systems in the ministry's three main high-
\nrise buildings.<\/p>\n
In the letters, the city fire department pointed out that some
\nfire equipment and protection systems failed to meet the
\nstandards required by the regulations.<\/p>\n
The letters detailed the building management's failure to
\nmaintain hydrants, sprinklers, fire alarms, portable
\nextinguishers, fire exits, fire lifts, emergency lamps for fire
\nescape signs, emergency phones, fireproof electricity cables and
\nfireproof exit doors.<\/p>\n
In addition, the letters also castigated building managers for
\nnot having regular fire drills and checks by the city fire
\ndepartment as part as the fire safety precautions required by
\nCity Bylaw No. 3 of 1992 on the prevention and avoidance of fire
\nhazards.<\/p>\n
Police declared earlier last week that the fire in the finance
\nministry building was an act of arson based on the results of the
\ninvestigation carried out by the police forensic laboratory.<\/p>\n
Police found traces of kerosene in four places, which were
\nbelieved to have been where the fire originated, something that
\nwas at odds with the fact that the office kitchen used liquefied
\npetroleum gas (LPG).<\/p>\n
Suspicion has been rife among the public, including NGOs such
\nas Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), that the arson attack was
\nmeant to destroy evidence of corruption on the part of
\nunscrupulous government officials.<\/p>\n
ICW coordinator, Teten Masduki recalled that acts of arson had
\nalso damaged other government buildings, like one of the Bank
\nIndonesia towers in December 1997, and the Ministry of Industry
\nand Trade building in December 2001, both of which fires also
\ndestroyed important documents.<\/p>\n
Finance minister Budiono stated on Sunday that all the
\ndocuments could be recovered, but it would take some time.<\/p>\n
He also vowed that there would be no manipulation in the
\nrefiling of the data.<\/p>",
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