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.