Safety procedures often ignored

Safety procedures often ignored

JAKARTA (JP): High rise building developers tend to ignore safety requirement after they get their permits, an official says.

The head of the city development supervision agency, Hartanto, said yesterday that the developers tend to change the design and the structure illegally for financial gain.

Change in the design usually also means change in safety features, and that was very dangerous, he said.

Last week Pasar Kembang market in Bogor was razed by fire and a total of 10 people who mostly worked at Ramayana Department Store died, according to official figures. The store was located at the top floor of the market building.

Hartanto said that changes had apparently made the building unsafe. The electrics no longer met the standards required.

"We will take firm action against developers found guilty of violating the permit," he said.

He denied reports alleging his subordinates had been negligent in supervising the public buildings, he said.

Hartanto said his office supervised public buildings which have more than eight story, or buildings with a total of more than 1,500 sq.m floor.

Architects have blamed the agency for not doing their job properly. Many highrise buildings are not equipped with sufficient fire safety protection.

Boy Birawa, a Jakarta-based architect, said that safety factors, including emergency exits, were usually made clear on the drawings submitted by developers or architects when applying for building permits. But the construction of the buildings is a different story, as the officials who sign the building permits do not supervise construction.

The authority suspected that the management of the department store failed to provide adequate fire safety features.(yns)