Fire exhibition closes, safety message delivered

Fire exhibition closes, safety message delivered

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With exhibiting companies acknowledging that both business
entities and government offices were interested in installing in
their buildings the fire protection systems on offer, the first
exhibition in the country to be staged by the fire protection
industry was officially closed on Thursday.

Officials from exhibiting companies said that they had won the
interest of a considerable number of prospective buyers during
the three-day exhibition.

Bambang E. Santoso, chairman of PT New Sentosa, a local fire
truck manufacturer, told The Jakarta Post that fire departments
from almost all regencies in the country was present and
interested in buying the company's products.

"Also, a number of companies wanted to augment their fire
security systems with products manufactured by us," he said.

He added that most of the prospective buyers were interested
because his company offered fire protection equipment at prices
lower than that manufactured abroad.

Engineer from a manufacturer of state-of-the-art fire
protection equipment Roy Valentino echoed the statement made by
Bambang that through the exhibition, his company had been able to
introduce the latest developments in fire protection system
technology.

"Although there were no transactions made during the three-day
exhibition, a number of officials from fire departments and
business entities showed great interest in our products," he
said.

Indonesian coordinator of U.S.-based National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA) Placidus S. Petrus said that
thanks to the exhibition, the utmost importance of fire
protection systems had now gained a wider acceptance.

"People from a wide range of backgrounds, such as
firefighters, industrialists, building consultants, even
paramedics, came to this exhibition and learned a lot about the
application of fire protection systems," he said.

Visitors also benefited from the exhibition.

A safety officer from PT Semen Cibinong, Sunarya, was seen
conversing with an engineer about the prospect of using an
environmentally friendly substance for fire extinguishers in his
company.

"Fire extinguishers in my company still use halon, which is
now prohibited by the government; is the substance produced by
your company not harmful to the environment?" he asked an
engineer from an exhibiting company that produced an
environmentally-friendly fire extinguishing gas.

Halon is a substance akin to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that
has long been regarded as making a great contribution to the
depletion of the ozone layer.

Another visitor, who wished to remain anonymous, was also
spotted discussing with a vendor the possibility of replacing the
software for fire protection systems in his company with the
latest version.

Given the success of the exhibition, organizer's
representative Yessi Oktavia told the Post that the exhibition
would be held on a regular basis.

"The next will be in March 2005," she said.