City considers utilizing helicopters to fight fire

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration is considering the use of helicopters to put out fires in high-rise buildings and dense settlements, which are most susceptible to fire and cannot be easily reached by fire trucks and equipment.

City administration spokesman Muhayat said on Monday that the office had received an invitation from Kuala Lumpur to observe the use of helicopters in the fire brigade.

"I think the use of helicopters will be very effective to cope with the main problems where the dense settlements in the city makes it impossible for fire trucks to reach a fire, while the extension ladders cannot reach the high-rise buildings.

"Either Governor Sutiyoso himself or a team will take a comparative study trip in the near future, perhaps early on April. If we decide to use the helicopters, the procurement will depend on next year's budget," Muhayat told The Jakarta Post.

He said the office had calculated that the city needed up to 50 times its original budget on maintenance in a bid to provide the city with sophisticated fire safety systems and equipment.

The chief of City Fire Department, Johnny Pangaribuan, has repeatedly said that most high-rise buildings, including City Hall, are firetraps given the poor fire protection systems and negligence in the maintenance of equipment.

Fires have occurred in dense settlements during the last three months, leaving thousands of people homeless, which many attribute to mismanagement in city planning.

A group of city councillors from Commission A for legal and administrative affairs went on a comparative study trip to learn about disaster management in 2001, including an integral system as applied by Tokyo's fire department.

However, the councillors said, none of what they had seen could be applied in the city due to differences in urban planning and the layout of the capital city of Japan.

Head of Commission A, Posman Siahaan, told the Post on Monday that Jakarta did not have the budget to procure sophisticated fire safety equipment, but admitted that it should be a priority.

"Maybe in next year's budget, but again it depends on the funds we have," he said, declining to reveal why there was no special funding allocated for the improvement of the City Fire Department and fire safety systems in the city.

"In the meantime, people should exercise extra caution not to cause fires while building management should maintain the fire safety systems. Because, whether or not a building has a sophisticated fire system, most fires are caused by people's ignorance," he said.