Devastation as lack of water allows Tanah Abang to burn

Damar Harsanto and Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Eyes brimming with tears and panic etched in her face, Jessica, 49, with her hands held together solemnly in front of her, repeatedly murmurs in prayer as she watches the thick smoke and flames engulfing more than 1,000 kiosks in the four-story Tanah Abang market.

"I'm praying for torrential rains to help extinguish the fire," Jessica, who lost one of her two kiosks to the fire, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Jessica could not believe that over than 30 fire trucks and more than 100 firefighters had failed to douse the fire due to a lack of water.

The head of the City Fire Department, Johnny Pangaribuan. regretted that his firefighters found it difficult to put out the fire due to a lack of water.

"The main problem is that only one fire hydrant is working, while several other hydrants are not functioning," grumbled Johnny, adding that most of the kiosks were also stacked with clothes and combustible material like apparel, rubber and plastic, contributing to the wide and fast spread of the fire.

The Post witnessed at least five fire hoses directed by firefighters repeatedly run out of water due to an incessant interruption in the water supply.

Soemedi, one firefighter at the scene, lamented being unable to take water from Krukut River behind the burning building owing to the low water level.

"We have contacted the city's crisis center to open the floodgate so that we can take water from the river. But, as you can see, they have done nothing even after all these hours," Soemedi complained.

Ironically, many Jakartans are worried about floods as it is the peak of the rainy season.

Eyewitnesses said the fire was caused by a short circuit in a substation located on the building's first floor in Block A. The fire quickly spread to the building's upper floors.

The fire was still raging at midnight., devouring Blocks A, C, D and E of the market. No fatalities had been reported, but at least six people suffered light injuries when fleeing the fire. Blocs B and F have been spared.

Losses caused by the fire have yet to be estimated, but an unconfirmed source put the figure in the hundreds of billions of rupiah. One trader claimed that one kiosk was worth Rp 300 million plus merchandise.

The market, one of the largest textile and garment markets in Southeast Asia, is visited by more than 21,000 people every day, including foreign traders from Africa.

The head of the Tanah Abang Market Traders Association, Komar, revealed that the market management failed to provide adequate fire protection because it focused more on reaping as much profit as possible.

"Only one fire hydrant works in here while the other hydrants are mere furnishing. They are not attached to any water pipes," he said angrily while watching the fire blaze through shops just 50 meters from his own shop.

"Look at this place. Even space in this small yard is offered to traders at outrageous prices," he said while pointing to a courtyard inside one of the market blocks.

Johnny, who rushed to Tanah Abang upon learning of the fire, leaving another fire that was sweeping through hundreds of houses in Lokasari, Central Jakarta, since 7 a.m., admitted that the market, like many other storied buildings in Jakarta, lacked fire-fighting equipment.

Johnny revealed that last year owners of almost half of the high-rises in Jakarta had failed to properly maintain the buildings' fire safety systems or have fire safety equipment regularly checked.

Jakarta is said to be vulnerable to fire due to its poor fire awareness and city planning. As of Wednesday, at least 96 fires had broken out in the city since January last year, claiming at least five lives.

Meanwhile, Jakarta deputy governor Fauzi Bowo promised to provide temporary premises from where the traders could resume business.

"The most important thing is that business activities in the market must go on," Fauzi said.

Fauzi said the fire was the second fire to gut the market. In 1970s, the market, one of the oldest in the city, burned for three days.

Police deployed nearly 1,000 personnel to safeguard the market from looting.