Municipality fails to enforce fire safety regulations

Municipality fails to enforce fire safety regulations

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration has admitted that it has
failed to supervise the enforcement of a regulation on fire
safety systems in public establishments.

An official of the city public order, Toha Reno, said
yesterday that weak supervision is one factor which has allowed
many public places such as nightspots, industrial sites and
shopping malls to operate without adequate fire safety equipment.

"The office cannot supervise this on a regular basis because
we don't have the personnel to do so," he said.

Toha admitted that due to lax control many public places lack
adequate fire safety devices, although the city public order
office does grant permits based on the disturbance regulation.

According to the regulation all public establishments should
obtain the permit, which also contains requirements for
establishments to install adequate fire safety systems.

A permit must be obtained before an establishment is allowed
to operate and after an inspection by officials from the city
public order office, who check whether the establishment has
complied with the regulation.

"We have only 655 personnel, while there are about 3,000
entertainment establishments and about 600 high-rise buildings in
the city," Toha said.

On the other hand, he added, most of his personnel have no
expertise in matters related to fire safety, so it is impossible
to conduct inspections effectively.

When asked whether the real reason for the office's failure to
enforce the regulation was because it assumed the buildings were
equipped with various fire safety devices since building usage
permits had been secured, Toha did not give a clear answer.

"There is a possibility because all applicants should obtain
the usage permits issued by the City Development Supervision
agency," he said.

A building usage permit is issued by the agency after a
company fulfills all the necessary requirements, including the
installation of fire equipment.

However, Toha also blamed the managements of those places for
failing to obey the regulation.

Early this week, the city public order office, the city
tourism agency and the city fire brigade inspected several public
establishments and discovered that most of them had inadequate
fire safety devices.

The buildings lacked emergency exits and most of the companies
had not trained their employees for fire drills.

Governor Surjadi Soedirdja has ordered his subordinates to
inspect fire safety systems in all public establishments in
Jakarta following the fire that destroyed Pasar Kebon Kembang
market in Bogor. The fire that swept through the market late last
month claimed 10 lives. (yns)

Editorial -- Page 4