Fire leaves 400 unemployed

UJUNGPANDANG, South Sulawesi: Some 400 employees of Makasa shopping center may soon be unemployed after the shopping center burned down over the weekend.

"We're very concerned about what to do with the employees," Andi Mappaware, director of PT Asindoindah Griyatama, the owner of the shopping center, said here on Monday.

The fire struck Makasa, the largest shopping center in eastern Indonesia, on Saturday. Firefighters were unable to extinguish the blaze until Sunday.

Damages are estimated at some Rp 8 billion.

"At the moment we really don't know what to do with them," Andi said when asked about the fate of Makasa's 400 employees.

"It will take at least a year before the shopping center is fully renovated and people can start working there again," he said. (27)