Fire chief wants hydrants for housing
Fire chief wants hydrants for housing
JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta, a city of 65,000 hectares with more than nine million people and hundreds of housing complexes, has only 361 fire hydrants.
The head of the fire department, Suharso, said yesterday the number was too small to support fire engines at the scene of a fire. "Ideally, one fire hydrant should be installed every 300 meters. Jakarta needs at least 600,000 hydrants," he said.
In an effort to increase the number of fire hydrants, Suharso said he wanted developers to install fire hydrants in the housing estates they build.
He said he would propose that the city administration make the installation of fire hydrants one of the conditions to be met by developers who apply for permits to start housing projects.
"In this way, the city will gradually have adequate fire hydrants," he said.
He said the administration also lacks the money to install hydrants, which cost around Rp 8 million each.
Jakarta has less land for housing complexes and developers have gone to Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi in West Java to expand their property businesses. Developers are only building apartments in Jakarta.
According to gubernatorial decree No. 240, private developers are obliged to build social facilities inside their projects such as drainage systems and waterways, schools and houses of worship.
Suharso said that the lack of hydrants was one factor which hampers fire brigades in controlling fires.
From January to October this year there were 568 fires which claimed 11 lives and destroyed 5,771 houses. As many as 33 people were injured in the fires which inflicted a total loss of Rp 40 billion.
Data provided by the fire department shows that from 1989 to 1994 there were 4,679 fires with material losses amounting to Rp 236 billion and about 100,000 people losing their homes.
Most of the fires were caused by short circuits, Suharso said.
He said that his subordinates faced various constraints, apart from the lack of fire hydrants, when dealing with fires.
Traffic congestion is always a serious problem, he said.
"Our fire engines cannot arrive at fire locations on time because they are caught in traffic jams. It seems that motorists are reluctant to give way to fire trucks," he said.
Fire victims expect top priority from the fire fighters because they do not know the standard procedures.
His office plans to publicize regional decree no. 3/1992 on fire. The publishing of the standard procedures is aimed at making the public aware of what firemen do at fires.
The city department has 2,620 firemen and 157 fire engines. (yns)