Negligence to blame for Jakarta fires<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto and Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
It has been three days now, but as of Saturday the flames were
\nstill burning in the Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta, is
\ntouted as being the largest textile and garment market in
\nSoutheast Asia.<\/p>\n
An exhausting job, indeed, for the more than 200 fire fighters
\nwho have been working day and night, backed up by 38 fire trucks,
\nto finally put out the flames.<\/p>\n
Two of them, Parsimin and Talendrek, were rushed to the
\nhospital on Friday suffering from smoke inhalation.<\/p>\n
Even the heavy rains that have being pouring down on the city
\nover the last few days failed to failed to finally dampen down
\nthe blaze.<\/p>\n
The fire was the largest as well the longest-lasting this year
\nin Jakarta. Over 5,500 kiosks have been affected, and all
\nbusiness in the market brought to an abrupt halt with no word on
\nwhen it will be able to start up again. The burned-out traders
\nhave yet to reach any agreement with the city administration over
\ntemporary relocation.<\/p>\n
The fire that razed the Tanah Abang market once again reminded
\nJakartans how vulnerable their city is to fire threats.<\/p>\n
Jakarta Fire Department chief Johnny Pangaribuan said the
\nmarket management had failed to provide adequate fire safety
\nsystems and equipment as required by Bylaw No. 3\/1992 on fire
\nprevention.<\/p>\n
This bylaw stipulates that every 800 square meters of a public
\nbuilding should be served by a fire hydrant.<\/p>\n
With a total floor area of some 82,000 square meters, the
\nTanah Abang market should have at least 100 hydrants installed.<\/p>\n
In fact, on paper at any rate, the four-story market building
\nhas 125 hydrants, 24 fire extinguishers and 12 water pumps.
\nUnforgivably, only one of those 125 hydrants was actually
\nworking.<\/p>\n
The market also lacked sprinklers as well as heat and smoke
\ndetectors as required under the bylaw.<\/p>\n
Concurring with Johnny, sociologist Wardah Hafidz said that
\npublic ignorance on the dangers of fire had contributed to the
\nmassive blaze.<\/p>\n
\"People are simply ignorant as to the threat of fire as can be
\nseen, for instance, from their careless habit of using sockets
\nfor multiple connections, forgetting that this could easily lead
\nto a short circuit, the most frequent cause of fires here,\"
\nWardah said.<\/p>\n
The government, in this case the city administration, was also
\nblamed for its failure to educate people as to the dangers posed
\nby fires.<\/p>\n
\"Many traditional markets, which are mostly run by the city
\nadministration, are not equipped with proper fire safety
\nequipment like detectors, sprinklers and portable fire
\nextinguishers,\" said Wardah.<\/p>\n
These markets would be the next to go up in smoke if the
\ngovernment, as well the people using the buildings, failed to
\nimprove their awareness of fire dangers, Wardah warned.<\/p>\n
The city administration, through PD Pasar Jaya, manages more
\nthan 120 traditional markets across Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"It is the government's job to encourage the public to provide
\nproper fire safety systems and have their fire safety equipment
\nregularly checked so as to prevent fires,\" said Wardah, who is
\nalso the chairwoman of the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) non-
\ngovernmental organization.<\/p>\n
The fire in Tanah Abang market is the fourth major fire to
\noccur in Jakarta this year. Earlier in January, a massive fire
\nrazed about 500 semi-permanent kiosks in Senen market. Since
\nJanuary, at least 98 fires have broken out in the city, claiming
\nseven lives.<\/p>\n
The ignorance of Jakarta people about fires was clearly on
\ndisplay during the Tanah Abang fire.<\/p>\n
Despite the rapid spread of the blaze, traders and their
\nemployees braved the flames in an effort to save their
\nmerchandise. They seemed completely unconcerned that they were
\nblocking the way for fire fighters trying to get to the blaze.<\/p>\n
Worse still, thousands of passers-by, including residents and
\npassing motorists, congregated to watch the fire, causing massive
\ntraffic jams.<\/p>\n
Before the fire, the possibility of such a devastating blaze
\nwas the last thing on the mind of Zulkarnain, a textile trader
\nwho lost two kiosks to the flames.<\/p>\n
\"I lost both of my shops here. The destroyed merchandise was
\nworth more than Rp 300 million (US$33,333) for each kiosk,\"
\nZulkarnain told The Jakarta Post while pointing to the third
\nfloor of one of the gutted blocks.<\/p>\n
Zulkarnain could only watch the fire fighters try to put out
\nthe blaze -- a battle they were doomed to lose due to the lack of
\nwater.<\/p>\n
The closure of the market, the main supplier of textiles and
\ngarments to many firms around the country, could leave millions
\nof people jobless.<\/p>\n
The market supplies garment makers in Pekalongan in Central
\nJava, Tasikmalaya, Garut and Bogor in West Java, as well as many
\ninternational buyers, particularly those in the used-garment
\ntrade to a number of African countries.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/negligence-to-blame-for-jakarta-fires-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}