Fire razes Taman Puring market
Leo Wahyudi S., The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Mamat looked dejectedly at the smoldering remains of his kiosk at Taman Puring market in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, after fire swept through the market in the wee hours on Saturday.
"I spent all my cash of Rp 260 million on new stock on Friday," the local shoe trader, who hails from Serang, Banten province, said on Saturday morning.
The trader, who has been selling shoes for nine years, said he had just received orders from Surabaya and Semarang and had anticipated a big crowd on the weekend due to the end of the month being pay day.
A pungent smell hung in the air and children shifted through the charred remains of kiosks looking for shoes they could salvage. Mamat sold shoes for Rp 25,000 to Rp 600,000 a pair.
"I do not know what to do next," said Mamat, 36, who said he had 10 people to feed in his extended family.
Mamat is one of some 370 traders in the market.
Other traders also suffered huge losses. Andi, 72, a medicine trader, said he lost around Rp 50 million, Herman and Khaerudin who are electronics traders lost Rp 200 million.
"Perhaps it is a warning from God," Herman said.
The head of the traders association, Ali Sadeli, said the market had 580 kiosks employing 700 workers and a turnover of Rp 500 million a day. Forty percent of the kiosks sold shoes and the remainder a variety of items, including secondhand goods.
Ali said none of the kiosks were insured as no insurance companies were willing to insure the traders. He estimated losses would reach Rp 5 billion.
"We have lost our jobs and I don't know where to go," lamented jewelry trader Isril.
He sat on a bench with other traders and watched scavengers sift through partly burned shoes, cellular phones, telephone sets and electronic devices.
Police are questioning six people in connection with the fire.
The 2,000-square-meter plot of land was initially established for traders of secondhand good in 1983.
Ali said it was the second blaze since 1990, when 20 kiosks were burned down.
Twenty-three fire engines were sent to the scene of the fire, which was extinguished at 7 a.m., four hours after the fire started.