'Developer gave no reports on accidents'

JAKARTA (JP): The developer of a West Jakarta apartment project, where 18 workers have died, had not reported any on-site accidents to the city office of the Ministry of Manpower, the office's head said yesterday.

"Until today, we were in the dark about the exact number of accidents at the Taman Anggrek Mall project," Freddy Taumelly said.

Labor law says employers must report regularly to the city office on the number and composition of their employees and all work accidents.

The management of PT Mulia Inti Pelangi, which is developing the apartments on Jl. S. Parman, Slipi, admitted not reporting its number of employees.

But one of its directors, Hadrian Tjahya, denied it had not reported accidents.

"We had to report our accidents to the office when we claimed workers' social security," he said.

Freddy met with the management yesterday.

Three workers were killed in accidents last Saturday and Sunday. Two plunged to their deaths and one was electrocuted.

In yesterday's meeting Hadrian said 18 workers had died in accidents at the project.

The developer's records show 14 of the 18 workers were employed by You One and Adhi Karya JO, one of the project's seven contractors.

Workers died from falling equipment, electrocution, and falling from tall structures.

Hadrian said the management would check if any of its seven contractors had failed to report other accidents.

Hadrian said about 11,000 workers were employed last year when the project began. About 3,000 now work on it.

Freddy said his staff were always told company representatives were not present when they wanted to inspect the site. His staff last went to inspect the site on Nov. 13, after they found out five people had died at the site including two alleged thieves and one female vendor.

Earlier Suwarto, Directorate General for Industrial Relations and Labor Standards under the Ministry of Manpower, called for greater managerial commitment and involvement to ensure work safety.

"Although the Ministry's committee for Worker Safety has given information sessions several times to employers, it would not be effective without such commitment," Suwarto said.

He said the committee faced frequent constraints from owners when they wanted to check safety measures. (02)