JAKARTA: An employee at a bakery in the Metropolitan Mall in Bekasi died when a stove exploded on Sunday afternoon.

Yadi, 25, an employee at Raisan bakery, was working when the stove exploded at about 3 p.m., causing a fire in the store.

A number of other employees extinguished the fire, but Yadi had already suffered extensive burns, a Bekasi Police detective said.

The blast was heard all over the three-story shopping mall, causing panic among shoppers. Dozens of shops closed their doors for fear of looting.--Antara

;JP;BBN; ANPAj..r.. Greater-Betawi Betawi people want jobs JP/8/GREATER

JAKARTA: Leaders of the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR), a non- governmental organization that often supports Governor Sutiyoso, met with the governor on Friday to convey a list of requests.

Among their requests were insurance for FBR members who work as motorcycle taxi (ojek) drivers, public order officer jobs for unemployed FBR members, that Betawi dress be made an official uniform for city administration employees and that a certain number of low-cost apartments be set aside for Betawi people.

Responding to the requests, Sutiyoso said the city administration did not give special treatment to any group or community in the city.

He also said the administration would not give priority to FBR members for jobs in public order offices.

"If they want to become security and order officers they must compete with other applicants," Sutiyoso said.

During the meeting with the governor, the FBR members were led by group chairman Fadloli El Muhir.--JP

;JP;MULTA FIDRUS; ANPAj..r.. Greater-health Free cataract treatment in Tangerang JP/8/GREATER

TANGERANG: Hundreds of residents received free cataract treatment from Friday to Sunday at the Balaraja community health center in Telagasari, Balaraja district, Tangerang regency.

The treatment was provided by the regency health agency, in cooperation with the Canadian Embassy and the Association of Indonesian Ophthalmologists.

Agus, 35, a health center staff member, said that as of Saturday afternoon 280 cataract patients had come in for the free treatment. The patients came from numerous districts in the regency.

Subandi, 34, a resident of Sukamurni village in Balaraja, who was taking his father to the health center for treatment, said poor residents were very pleased with the program.

"We hope free treatment will not only be provided for cataract patients but also for those suffering from other illnesses," he said. --JP

;JP;ANTARA;BBN; ANPAj..r.. Greater-Busway Sutiyoso told to delay busway project JP/8/GREATER

Sutiyoso told to delay busway project

JAKARTA: Governor Sutiyoso has been told to delay the implementation of a busway project connecting Blok M in South Jakarta to Kota in Central Jakarta because more preparation is needed.

"Initially, I hoped that Sutiyoso would learn from a number of Latin American countries that he visited that a busway system requires good preparation," the chairman of the Jakarta Residents Forum, Azas Tigor Nainggolan, was quoted by Antara as saying on Sunday.

He said Sutiyoso did not understand the basic concepts of a busway system, a system that according to him is not meant to be the solution to all traffic problems.

The governor has said the busway system will allow people to enjoy comfortable public transportation.

Tigor said a busway should be incorporated into the whole transportation system of the city.

He also criticized the city administration for not involving the public in the drafting of its transportation policies.

Sutiyoso and a number of officials recently returned from a trip that took them to a number of cities in Latin American, including Bogota, Quito, Sao Paulo and Mexico City. The purpose of the trip was to study the transportation systems in these cities.--JP