Nearly half of city high-rises neglect fire safety standards<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Owners of almost half of the 542 high-rises in Jakarta have
\nfailed to properly maintain the buildings' fire safety systems or
\nhave fire safety equipment regularly checked, the head of the
\nJakarta Fire Agency, Johnny Pangaribuan, said on Friday.<\/p>\n
\"Based on standard requirements, buildings usually have water
\nsprinklers, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and fire hydrants
\non their premises. However, poor maintenance and the owners'
\nnegligence have lead to these systems being out-of-order or not
\nfunctioning properly,\" Johnny told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He said that only 75 percent of the existing 800 water
\nhydrants located near high-rises and other public facilities were
\noperable. \"The rest of the 25 percent are damaged.\"<\/p>\n
Johnny called on building owners to be more alert to damaged
\nfire safety systems. \"With inadequate fire protection, it becomes
\nvery hazardous when fire strikes.\"<\/p>\n
State-owned institutions were among those who were negligent,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
He said uncooperative building management and poor law
\nenforcement were the main factors causing poor safety standards
\nto continue.<\/p>\n
Some buildings block their fire exits, he said, citing
\nexamples at the 14-story Manggala Wanabakti on Jl. Gelora 1 and
\nthe 19-story Ministry of National Education on Jl. Jend.
\nSudirman.<\/p>\n
\"Areas with fire exits are used to store steel cabinets that
\nare not in use and cleaning equipment in the Manggala Wanabakti
\nbuilding, while the exits at the ministry are blocked with
\nvarious items. Vendors also occupy most of the space in front of
\nthe exits,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"The buildings' lack of fire safety equipment and early
\nwarning devices simply demonstrates the owners' or managements'
\ndisregard to our warnings, or they are just belittling our
\nprofession,\" Johnny said. He added that his office could do
\nnothing more but file recommendations or notes with the governor,
\nwho has the legal right to act against negligent building owners.<\/p>\n
\"The governor usually has the buildings without proper fire
\nprotection systems sealed off or their building permits reviewed
\nfor violating a bylaw on fire prevention,\" Johnny said.<\/p>\n
According to City Bylaw No. 3\/1992 on fire protection systems,
\nthose who fail to abide by the requirements stated in the bylaw
\nare subject to three months in jail or a Rp 50,000 (US$5.50)
\nfine.<\/p>\n
A new bylaw issued last year has increased the fine to Rp 5
\nmillion.<\/p>\n
However, the head of the Jakarta Building Control Agency,
\nJumhana Tjakrawirya, revealed that the court usually ordered
\nviolators to pay only a maximum fine of Rp 300,000 for the
\noffense.<\/p>\n
\"That's a meager amount for rich businesspeople,\" Jumhana told
\nthe Post earlier on Wednesday in his office.<\/p>\n
Johnny said that his office found it difficult to have their
\nstaff members monitor every high-rise for irregularities.<\/p>\n
\"Jakarta has 2,098 firefighters spread over five mayoralties.
\nThey have to cope with fighting at least two fires a day, or an
\naverage of 700 fires a year. The lack of personnel has been a
\nreal constraint,\" Johnny said.<\/p>\n
Last year, the agency reported that there were 772 fires in
\nthe city, with 18 people killed, 38 others injured and 305
\nbuildings gutted.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/nearly-half-of-city-high-rises-neglect-fire-safety-standards-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}