Five named suspects in Bandung hotel fire

Five named suspects in Bandung hotel fire

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

Police have named five suspects in connection to a hotel fire
here last week that claimed four lives, including two foreign
nationals.

Budiman Somali, the hotel director-cum-owner, and hotel
maintenance man Adhiansyah are the main suspects, West Bandung
Police chief Adj. Sr. Com. Zaenul Arifin said.

Three of the suspects have been in detention since Sunday
while the two others were detained on Monday, he said.

The owner of hotel Perdana Wisata will be charged under
Article 18 of the Criminal Code because of the absence of fire
safety equipment in the hotel. Under the law, he could face a
maximum punishment of four years in prison if found guilty.

Police have questioned 15 witnesses, mostly hotel employees.

The fire broke out in the wee house of May 6 on the second
story of the hotel where the Euro discotheque was located. The
hotel employees said the hotel manager and maintenance department
had ignored repeated warnings about frequent short circuits in
the discotheque.

Meanwhile, Hermawan, chairman of West Java branch of the
Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), said that the
hotel owner and regional administration were responsible for the
fire since no fire safety inspections of hotels in Bandung had
ever been conducted.

Erwin Anwar, head of Bandung Tourism Division, said his office
was too short of staff to oversee hundreds of hotels in Bandung.

Eighteen of the 43 star-rated hotels in Bandung do not have
tourism business licenses, he said.

"This incident has prompted us to improve our management.
Otherwise, people will feel insecure when staying at hotels in
Bandung," he said.