Fire razes Taman Puring market
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.