Nightspots ignoring safety regulations
Nightspots ignoring safety regulations
JAKARTA (JP): Most nightlife establishments in Jakarta
fall short of the city administration's regulation on fire
precaution systems.
The head of the city tourism agency, Fauzi Bowo, said
yesterday that the managements of such establishments fail to
equip their buildings with, for example, emergency exits. Nor
have their employees been trained in the procedure for evacuation
in case of fire, he added.
"We inspected three establishments and none of them have
completely implemented the regulation," Fauzi said.
The tourism agency, the city fire brigade and the city public
order office visited several public establishments on Tuesday
night to inspect their fire systems.
Governor Surjadi Soedirdja recently ordered his subordinates
to inspect fire safety systems in all public establishments in
Jakarta following the Pasar Kebon Kembang Bogor fire which
claimed the lives of 10 people late last month.
Currently, Jakarta has 3,223 entertainment centers, including
bars, movie theaters, billiard centers, singing halls and
discotheques.
Fauzi said that fire drills are the most important thing in
fire safety because it trains employees of the establishments to
remain calm if a does fire occur.
"All fire safety systems don't mean anything if the employees
who are responsible for the visitors' safety are incapable of
operating the devices and panic when a fire strikes. Therefore,
it is important to conduct routine drills," he said.
Fauzi also said that in some cases, building managements
conduct fire drills but do so during daylight, while most
establishments are only opened at night when conditions may
differ.
Fauzi also said that he may require movie theaters to run a
short film on safe evacuation before the main show.
"The film would show the location of emergency exits and what
to do if the building is on fire," he said.
When asked why the agency has never bothered with such a plan
before, Fauzi said his agency always advises the owners of
establishments about such measures.
"I always remind them about it but they are reluctant to do
anything," he said.
Therefore, he added, he plans to tighten control over public
establishments and will not hesitate in revoking operation
permits if any centers refuse to obey the law.
"I will revoke their permits if they disregard our warning,"
he said, adding that the mayoralty office will meet with owners
and warn them about the required safety measures.
Recently, an executive of an insurance company said that most
buildings in Indonesia are not equipped with appropriate fire
safety devices, and if they are the equipment is not checked
routinely. Owing to this, insurance against fire in Indonesia is
three times higher than elsewhere.(yns)