Pasaraya near closing time<\/p>\n
On March 16, 1996, my young daughter and I were shopping at
\nthe Pasaraya department store in Blok M, South Jakarta. At 9:00
\np.m. we were asked to leave by the young floor manager, who
\nstated that they wished to close 30 minutes early.<\/p>\n
Upon trying to leave from the seventh floor I discovered that
\nthe only way down, the escalator, was locked up and inaccessible.
\nOf the two small capacity and slow elevators, only one was in
\noperation.<\/p>\n
We and some other customers waited over 30 minutes for the
\nlift to carry us down with no guidance. We then discovered that
\nthe ground floor destination was also sealed off. Luckily, we
\nwere able to exit on the first floor via the parking lot doorway.<\/p>\n
When the seventh floor manager was queried by nervous
\ncustomers as to whether this lockup policy was normal, he replied
\nyes and stated it had been this way for some time. He said that
\neach floor is routinely sealed off at escalator entrances even
\nwith customers still in the store.<\/p>\n
In many of Indonesia's commercial facilities with little or no
\ngovernment monitoring, there is little concern for safety. The
\notherwise attractive Pasaraya facilities have no fire escapes, no
\nfire extinguishers are noticeable, no passageways are marked for
\nemergency use (none available anyway) and the management shirks
\nits responsibility for patron safety.<\/p>\n
I strongly suggest that customers shopping in Pasaraya be on
\ntheir guard near closing time.<\/p>\n
JAMES D. FILGO<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pasaraya-near-closing-time-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }