Epileptics need new regulations
Noted physicians and police medics have appealed to related institutions to establish clear-cut guidelines to protect those suffering from epilepsy from job-related tasks which could endanger themselves or the public.
"There are between 900,000 and 1.8 million people in this country suffering from epilepsy, but up until now, not one measure has been issued to prevent accidents or protect their interests," Professor Mahar Mardjono, chairman of the Indonesian Association of Epilepsy Prevention (Perpei), told a symposium here over the weekend.
Lt. Col. Pamudji Santoso from the City Police Medics said numerous accidents and crimes in the city involve epileptics.
"The incidents happen due to the lack of guidelines regulating employers in distributing tasks to their employees, such as asking epileptics to drive," he said.
The expected regulations would also help protect epileptics, for example, from being dismissed from their jobs due to disease- related mishaps, Pamudji said.
The one-day symposium at the City Police Headquarters was organized jointly by Perpei and the City Police. (bsr)
Most highrises meet requirements
About 70 percent of the city's high-rise buildings, in particular those built since the 1980s, meet the city's fire safety requirements, a city official said.
"Word that most of Jakarta's tall buildings are susceptible to fire is not true," the head of the City Fire Brigade, Tatang Sastrawiria, said yesterday.
According to Tatang, most of the owners of the newer high-rise buildings have asked his office for fire safety inspections.
Only a few of them have been found to be inadequately protected against fire, Tatang said, adding that those inadequacies were minor.
Tatang acknowledged that structures built prior to 1980 may not have been adequately equipped with fire safety apparatus or designed in accordance to sound fire safety principles as prescribed by his office.
Managements of the city's high-rise buildings often neglect routine checks to see whether their fire extinguishers really work as they should, Tatang said.
They seem to be ignorant of the fact that fire extinguishers have limited life span, Tatang added.
Tatang said his office is not capable of inspecting the fire safety systems of all of the city's 444 high-rise buildings.
"Maintaining a sound fire safety system should be their own responsibility," Tatang said, adding that his office has 2,608 firemen.
Tatang said currently his office has six, ready-for-use fire engines and that the highest ladder his office utilizes has a 41- meter vertical reach.
Soon his office will acquire two fire engines, each with a 60- meter ladder, the highest fire engine ladder in the world. These will be donated from a group of high rise owners coordinated by property tycoon Ciputra, Tatang said. (06)
Policeman gets stung for Rp 1m
A group of criminals broke into the house of a policeman and fled with more than one million rupiahs yesterday afternoon while the officer was out.
The robbery reportedly occurred at 2.30 p.m. when Chief Sgt. Subhan Zaini, an officer at the Operations Command Center at city police headquarters, was on duty, leaving his wife and a relative, named Yuni Fatul at home on Jl. Kampung Kebantenan, Bekasi.
Yuni, who witnessed the robbery, said on of the thieves threatened Mrs. Subhan at sickle-point.
"For fear, she gave up the family's belongings," Yuni was quoted by Antara as saying.
The robbers made away with a 20-inch color TV, a radio, jewelry, valued at Rp 1.4 million (US$656.9) in total. (jsk)