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)