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)