BI fire should serve as a warning for developers

BI fire should serve as a warning for developers

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Fire Department said the inferno
that engulfed the top floors of Bank Indonesia's office tower on
Monday, killing 15 people, should encourage high-rise developers
and executives to pay more attention to their fire safety
systems.

Fire official Johny Pangaribuan said Tuesday that most of the
fires that destroyed high-rise buildings were usually caused by a
lack of maintenance of safety equipment.

"It's a matter of neglect. They (developers and building
owners) regard such tasks as someone else's job."

Johny said that almost 90 percent of the city's 650
skyscrapers have not met safety standards, some of which are set
by the fire department.

"We do find the equipment in good condition during the routine
inspection once a year, but the facilities are not properly
maintained after that."

Johny also expressed concern over the nominal fines imposed on
negligent building owners, as set out in regulation No. 3 on fire
prevention.

Owners who ignore the fire department's third warning about
neglected safety equipment are usually reported to the police, he
said.

"But, during the court session, a guilty building owner will
only be fined about Rp 50,000 (US$10.81)," he said, adding that
the amount did not correlate with the destruction caused by a
fire.

Bodies

Relatives of those killed in Monday's fire have been allowed
to remove their loved ones from Cipto Mangunkusumo General
Hospital in Central Jakarta and arrange their burials.

The last victim to be taken from the hospital was Legimin. His
body was buried in Kampung Gedong Public Cemetery in East Jakarta
yesterday.

After forensic doctors Budi Sampurna and Mun'im Idries had
examined the bodies, and Central Jakarta Police precinct had
given approval, the families were free to remove the bodies.

Budi said that the victims suffered severe burns and
suffocated to death.

"Only nine of them could be physically identified as the rest
were in very bad shape.

"However, we could identify them from their clothes and the
remains of personal documents like ID cards or company name
tags."

One of the bank's employees, Erika, was buried Tuesday in
Menteng Pulo Public Cemetery in Central Jakarta.

Erika's husband, Muhammad Guruh, said that he was concerned
about the fate of his two daughters, Jilly and Dilla.

"I can accept Erika's death as her destiny but I don't think
my daughters can easily think about it that way."

Erika, who had worked for BI for 20 years, was found death on
the 24th floor along with three other victims.

She reportedly reached the 20th floor safely but rushed
upstairs to get her boss' bag on the 22nd floor.

Grief also touched the families and relatives of 27-year-old
Indarto Subagyo.

Indarto's younger brother, 19-year-old Iman, said that his
sibling, who was an electrical engineer at PT Capital Mutual
Corporation, started work there a year ago.

"He worked there as soon as he graduated from Trisakti
University," he said, adding that Indarto was very smart.

Iman said that his brother's death was the saddest thing that
had happened to his family.

Among the mourners waiting in the morgue's crowded hall was
28-year-old Tanirah, who sat in silence and waited for assistance
from morgue staff.

She could only stare at her husband Solihin's remains and
admitted that she was completely confused about how she felt at
that time.

With the couple's child, one-year-old Luki, on her lap, she
said that she would transport her husband's body to Bumiayu in
Central Java for burial.

"He worked hard to earn money in Jakarta as we were planning
to build a house in Bumiayu."

The morgue staff, who have been working around the
clock, said they were relieved that it only took two days to
complete the identification of bodies and give the families
clearance for burial. (04)