Graduation to go on despite fire

Graduation to go on despite fire

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) will hold its graduation
ceremony on Wednesday as planned, despite a campus fire on Friday
afternoon that badly damaged the Graha Widya Wisuda building,
where the ceremony was scheduled to take place.

The graduation ceremony will now be held in a nearby sports
field on the campus.

Rector Ahmad Ansori Mattjik assured graduates and their
parents on Saturday that the fire would not ruin graduation day.

"The graduation ceremony will be held as scheduled on June 30,
at the outdoor field of the Darmaga gymnasium," he said as quoted
by Antara.

Assistant Rector Herry Suhardianto said parents would still be
able to park on campus for the ceremony.

Meanwhile, the head of campus security, Subagio, denied
allegations that the fire on Friday had been deliberately set.

"The fire was caused by a short circuit near the roof of the
building," he said, adding that this had been confirmed by a
police forensic team.

Subagio said sparks from the short circuit caused the
fiberglass in the building's roof to catch fire. Campus security
officers attempted in vain to extinguish the fire, which quickly
spread to other parts of the building.

Firefighters were called to the scene and were able to
extinguish the blaze. The firefighters also saved the stage and
chairs that had been set up inside the building for the
graduation ceremony.

Campus officials are still tallying the damage from the fire.