Owners allowed in gutted kiosks

JAKARTA (JP): Owners of kiosks in the ravaged Pasar Baru shopping center in Central Jakarta were allowed to enter their shops Thursday.

They were owners of kiosks which were on the first floor of the Harco Plaza on Jl. Samanhudi and not destroyed by the fire.

Results of police investigations into the cause of the fire have not been announced. The fire destroyed the second, third, and fourth floors of the four-story Plaza.

Meanwhile, the Plaza's management began its own investigation. At 9 a.m. owners went to the first floor to make an inventory of items. Kiosk owners had to check the inventory made by security guards. They were then free to collect their items.

A trader of cosmetics and beauty parlor equipment said she was happy to know the condition of her merchandise.

"They are all in one piece," she said.

Senior security official Budi Johannes said kiosk owners had to report all items taken from their shops to the Harco Plaza management.

Meanwhile at the neighboring King Plaza, which was also hit by fire, security guards said they caught a man stealing about 80 meters of burnt cable.

The suspect was identified as a 23-year-old student, Ismaidi, from Duren Sawit, East Jakarta. (11)