Devastation as lack of water allows Tanah Abang to burn

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.