Fire razes nearly 100 kiosks in Kenari electronics market

JAKARTA (JP): Almost 100 kiosks in the Kenari electronics market on Jl. Salemba Raya in Central Jakarta were destroyed by a fire which began early yesterday morning. No fatalities were reported.

Central Jakarta Police Chief Lt. Col. Abubakar Nataprawira said the fire, which started at 3:30 a.m., was probably caused by an electrical short circuit from one of the market's 452 kiosks.

"The police are interrogating a kiosk owner and the on-duty security guards," Abubakar said. The fire is estimated to have cost billions of rupiah in losses.

Around 98 kiosks managed under the city-owned market company PD Pasar Jaya were destroyed in the fire, which led to hours of congestion on Jl. Salemba Raya to Jl. Matraman Raya.

The kiosks were owned by 377 traders, according to the company's management.

The dense market, popular for relatively cheap electronic products, is known as the old Kenari market to differentiate it from the new neighboring high story building built to accommodate the traders.

Although most of the fire was put out before noon, until late afternoon firefighters were still trying to cope with the remains. Firefighters said before 11 a.m., fire sparked again in kiosks located in the middle of the market, which also contained electronic goods.

Strong winds blew the thick smog around while kiosk owners, black with soot and drenched in dirty water, shouted into handphones and gathered whatever they could salvage.

Others who had found their lost goods stood around speechless.

Insurance

"We are not insured," Andreas, an owner, said. Most insurance companies refuse to insure kiosk owners in traditional markets, he and other traders said.

The source of water was hydrants from across the road and the Paseban river 200 meters away, as no hydrants were found in and around the market.

"We will try to drag the hoses up along the pedestrian bridge," M. Idris Paddai, the head of operations control at the Fire Department said.

"Many of our hoses were destroyed by passing cars, though we tried to divert traffic," he said.

Fredy Alling, the chief of the Central Jakarta fire department, told The Jakarta Post that he received a call about the fire at 4:15 a.m., and immediately deployed 19 brigades with 160 personnel to the site.

He said the fire could be stopped in less than three hours, had there been a hydrant nearby.

Idris said time was also wasted in having to break down kiosk walls so firefighters could pass.

"There should be one corridor for every five kiosks in a row, but here there is only one after more than 10 kiosks," he said.

The head of the market, Masdar, said the total losses could not be estimated yet.

Edi, a kiosk owner, said he lost about Rp 100 million (US$ 42,194). Another, Chandra, said he lost Rp 400 million.

Central Jakarta Mayor Abdul Kahfi and the spokesman of the market company, Lihardin Sipayung, said separately that owners are not allowed to rebuild their kiosks.

They repeated earlier announced plans to renovate the market and accommodate traders in temporary sites along the slow lane of the road.

Traders said they had just had a meeting with officials around two weeks ago, in which they had agreed to move when the temporary sites were ready.

Security officers said it was too early to suspect arson.

The market company had planned to initially accommodate 100 traders at the temporary site. (jun/26/anr)